Warmth
by kabukimono
Summary: One day, one world, upon visiting Gravemark Village, Ringabel and Edea find themselves stuck in a blizzard. Luckily, there are cabins in which they can take shelter while it blows over. Except… it blows over far longer than they expect. Will they both leave the cabin alive?
1. Day 1

"It's getting dark," Ringabel commented, his breath fogging up in the frigid air. He immediately tugged his scarf back over his mouth and nose. He stood behind Edea, close, but far enough to give her the space she needed as she wandered between graves.

"I know," Edea confessed. She looked up from the grave she'd been reading and back toward the mountain path. Behind them, the sun was just about to set. "We should get going."

"Going in this weather?"

They both turned to see one of the old men of Gravemark Village, the few who had been left alive when the plague had released its hold on the village. Its keepers. He was bundled up tightly against the cold, and now he stopped to speak to them.

"Well, it is late," Edea pointed out. "We left our friends in Eternia and we need to head back."

Edea had wanted to see more of the village where her parents had grown up. She'd wanted to for a while, but things had been so urgent in the first world, and the second, and the third… now, they were exhausted, mentally and physically. That meant that, despite their fairy's protests, they were taking side-trips and extra time on their regular activities. With that in mind, she had dragged Ringabel along with her to Gravemark for protection and "monster-bait" as she had put it, leaving Agnes behind in Eternia and Tiz to watch over her. The two of them had needed some time alone together, in Edea's opinion, and Agnes disliked travelling in the snow if she could avoid it.

"Yes, I know. But there's a blizzard coming along. You'll get lost in that," the man explained, and they followed his gaze toward approaching dark clouds. "We have extra cabins for visitors to stay in. You're the daughter of the Grand Marshal, yes? Your family's home is still standing. We keep it clean. "

"I… don't know about this," Edea said, looking up at Ringabel.

"We should stay the night," he suggested, smiling at her. "You've stayed here before, haven't you? With the Grand Marshal? I'm sure it'll be like a sleepover this time."

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" she grumbled, ducking her chin into the thick coat she wore. But he had a point. The old man had a point. They were all Eternians; they all knew how much colder it could be at night, and with a blizzard on top of that. Edea would prefer to be stuck in a cabin with Ringabel, than to be stuck in a cave with him while waiting out the storm, or worse.

The cabin the old man showed them was small, but familiar. Had it been the same one she and her father had stayed at that night so long ago? She couldn't quite remember, but it was sombering to think that this was the same place her father had grown up, and perhaps where she would have grown up as well, had the Great Plague never happened.

There were no photos in the old place, no personal items at all. It seemed as though it was rarely looked after, with a thick layer of dust over everything, and bare, a mostly empty room with the minimum of furniture. Edea made a face. At least the ceiling was free of leaks, and the walls were mostly wind proof, though there was a small draft from the back. Old, dirty oil lamps were protected from the draft by their glass covers, and the three of them set a series throughout the entire room, lighting them one by one.

The old man handed them a stack of blankets. "Here you are… the extra blankets we have. The Women's Association in Eternia always sends us new ones every year, bless them. We have enough for an entire army now." He chuckled. "You'll find supplies and other items. It's been some time since we've had visitors over, after all. Still, there's some things here and there."

The wind blew behind him, and brought with it fresh flurries of snow that dusted the worn wooden floor. They all shivered.

"I'd best be off," the old man said, thrusting his hands back into his pockets. "You children can see our cabin from here. If you need the help of these old men, don't hesitate to come fetch us."

"Thank you," Ringabel said, and he closed the door once the man had walked some ways away, though he struggled against the wind. Leaning against the old wood, the blond looked over at Edea, who was unfolding some of the blankets. "Well now. It seems we're all alone, eh?"

"Sure," Edea agreed. "And since we don't have anything to eat, I'm going to cook you up in a stew so I don't starve to death."

"I'm all skin and bones!" he protested, clasping his hands to his face in horror. "I wouldn't make a very good meal." Terrified, he wrapped his arms around himself and backed away from Edea as she approached.

But he was backed up against a wall, and soon enough she was close enough to grab his face and pull on his cheeks. "Your big head will be enough to feed me for a week!" she said with a laugh, and then leaned in to gnaw on one of his arms.

Ringabel found himself laughing as well as she gnawed loudly but lightly, her teeth barely felt through the leather of his jacket. "Is this like that horror story we heard about as children? Feasting on the blood of the beautiful to retain your youth?"

Edea stopped gnawing and stared up at him, her blue eyes narrowing. "Wasn't that supposed to be the blood of _virgins_ , Ringabel? And if there's anyone who needs to retain their youth, it's you, you gray-headed old man."

Ringabel immediately flushed, then pouted, then looked away with a frown. "It's not gray, it's platinum, Edea! There's hints of blonde in it when we're in the sun." He couldn't quite bring himself to look back at her just yet, and only glanced in her direction when she stepped away again. He lifted a hand to wipe her spit off his jacket.

"It looks gray in this light," she pointed out, and they both fell silent as they surveyed the cabin, what little they could see.

It consisted of one large room, and what Ringabel assumed - hoped - was a bathroom through the one of the two doors on the opposite wall. The kitchen, if one could call it that, took up most of the entrance side of the room, with wooden counters that were rough with splitters and age, and a small metal sink that had seen better days. There was a small stove with two small burners, but that seemed secondary to the wooden stove that was facing out toward the rest of the cabin. A small stack of wood was next to it.

He headed over to start a fire. Thankfully, he and Edea both knew fire spells, and wouldn't have to worry about gathering flint or tinder. The sooner he could get a fire going, the better.

He could see additional wood packed into the space underneath a rickety ladder that led to a loft. Edea was now climbing up said ladder, her head nearly reaching the slanted ceiling as she ascended. He watched her movements.

"Huh," she said, her voice breaking the silence as he threw pieces of wood into the stove. "It looks like they were using this place for storage. There's some more blankets up here." She crawled into the small space, and he could hear her rolling around.

"Then we won't need to worry about the cold," he replied. "Ah, and here I was hoping to share a blanket with you tonight, to warm your body with the heat from my heart."

"Your bones can warm my stomach later." Edea popped her head over the ledge of the loft before she shimmied over it, dropping onto the wood floor below with a loud noise.

A bed stood nearby. It was large and old, but had stood the test of time. Excellent craftsmanship. Edea walked over to it, reaching her hand out to feel the thick logs that made up the footboard, fingers tracing over the carvings in the wood. Was this where her parents had slept at one time? Her grandparents?

The mattress looked firm, stuffed with straw or hay that she hoped was fresh. She gingerly pressed down on it, but couldn't feel anything that felt off. The old man had mentioned that they kept some cabins for visitors to stay, but she couldn't imagine that happened often. When was the last time the mattress had been changed? It wasn't like they had many choices, though, and she'd slept on worse.

She laid a thick comforter over the mattress to cover the rough burlap fabric, then sat down. Only a roughly carved out divider separated the sleeping area from the living area. There was also a heavy writing desk and a small eating table with three chairs, and two doors. One led outside, she was sure, based on the way that she could feel the wind through it. The other…

"Oh good, there's a toilet here," she said, and entered, closing the door behind her.

Ringabel finally had the fire going to his satisfaction, and looked up just as the door shut. Yes, that was very good. He stood to his feet, wincing as his joints protested, and stretched as he looked around the room. The room felt familiar; he was sure he'd stayed here with the Grand Marshal at one point himself, but that memory was at the edge of his mind, fuzzy and out of reach, no matter how much he stretched. It was as if only the tips of his fingers could brush it…

"Augh," he grumbled, pushing the heel of his hands into his eyes before dragging them down his entire face. His memories had mostly returned by this point, but holes and frayed edges still plagued him. It was more than annoying… and not something he wanted to think about when he and Edea were alone. He liked spending time with her. He cherished it. There was no point in wasting time on his own problems.

While Edea did her business in the toilet, he looked around the rest of the cabin for supplies. Hopefully they had food of some sort - he was too young to die! Edea and he had some packed some snacks for the trip and for a small picnic - if one could call eating in the middle of a graveyard a picnic - but Edea had long polished those off, and they had only water left. He was familiar with going without food for days, but Edea wasn't, and he would never put her through that if he could help it otherwise.

Looking around some more solved that problem. Ringabel could see a large pile of wooden crates stacked on the other side of the kitchen, almost under the table.

The other cabins were used for storage, after all. The men who stayed behind in the forsaken village were cared for by their remaining family members who had moved to Eternia to escape the memories. Ringabel dragged out one of the crates and to his relief recognized at least some food stuffs. Now to just see what was edible, not that it would matter much to Edea.

"What were you doing?" she asked when she opened the door moments later. He had upended the crate onto the floor, and potatoes had rolled across the room. She stooped now to pick one up, dusting dirt from it.

"Looking for something to feed us with," he replied absently as he sorted the food into piles. Some of it would need to be thrown out. It was old and rotten, though had been kept dry in the cabin. The potatoes were hardy and the soft spots could be cut away. There was a collection of lentils and beans, and a decent supply of spices, though they looked faded. Some flour and a glass container full of smoked, salted meat. It was dry, but nothing a soak in some water couldn't fix. And in the very center, a small paper bag full of coffee beans. He sighed in relief.

"You know I was kidding about eating you, right?" Edea crouched beside him and handed him the potato she'd retrieved from some feet away.

"I know that," he said, offering her a smile. "But if we're to make the hike back to Eternia tomorrow morning, we'll need breakfast even if we don't eat dinner."

"I… suppose you're right." She dragged close a nearby metal pot and threw the potatoes into it.

Hauling the pot over to the sink, she turned the faucet on. Ringabel straightened up in time to see it spew out brownish gray water. His eyes met Edea's.

"I'm going to go get some snow," she suggested. "Then we can melt and boil it!"

"I think that's a good idea," he replied, kneeling back down to finish cleaning up. No doubt the pipes had been unused in months, perhaps even years. Who knew what was in them? A moment later, he felt Edea tugging at his jacket and glanced up at her in surprise. "What are you doing? If you wanted me to strip, you need only ask."

"As if! I need another layer of clothes. I wish we had sugar and maple syrup, though…"

"Sugar and maple syrup?"

"Yeah, for ice cream and maple taffy! I can't believe you haven't tried that before. Now give me your clothes."

He declined to say more as she pulled his jacket off him and wrapped it around herself for extra warmth before she stepped outside, promising to stay within just a few feet of the entrance. In the meantime, he took quick stock of the other crates that had been shoved aside. It was more of the same, just the essentials to ensure the men out here didn't starve. Now, it would be finally put to use to feed the two visitors. Ringabel hoped that it was still edible, at least.

When Edea returned with a pot full of freshly fallen snow, he was starting a fire in the small cooking stove, and took the pot from her to set it over the flames.

"Thanks, Ringabel!"

"No need to mention it," he said cheerfully, then reached his hand out for his jacket. "Give me that, I'm going to go fetch some snow myself."

"Oh fine," she groused, relinquishing it to him. "It is really warm, you know. But be careful, it's starting to come down really hard. We almost got caught in that!"

"That" was a blizzard that bit his face immediately once he'd stepped out of the coziness of their cabin. He sucked in a sharp breath and ducked his face down, stepping over to the snow that was building up alongside the cabin walls, scooping it up into a large bowl he'd brought with him. Snowflakes clung to his eyelashes and nearly obscured his vision as he retraced his steps, finding that his footsteps were already being filled in.

This was not good. This was a bad blizzard, even for Eternia.

The bowl was set aside for now, along with black beans that he poured in so that they could soak in the water once it eventually melted. There were hooks on the side of the door, and Ringabel hung their wet, cold outer clothing on them. Now clad in clothing that was more appropriate to Florem's tropical climate, he decided it would be an opportune time to join Edea as she huddled under a blanket next to the fireplace.

The old couch she was on creaked alarmingly under his added weight, and Edea barely glanced at him before she offered the edge of the blanket to him.

"Keep your hands to yourself," she warned him, but cuddled against him all the same, pressing her side to his.

"I am a gentleman," he reminded her. "I would never even think of such a thing."

"Hmm…" Edea hummed as she tugged her side of the blanket around herself. Ringabel tucked his side of the blanket behind her back, and then carefully laid his cheek against the top of Edea's head. Her bow made that a little difficult, but he nudged it aside. "That's fine, I suppose," she said, looking up at him. "I still have my sword in here. I'll cut your hands off if they wander too close to anything."

"I won't!" he yelped, and tucked his hands down against his own lap.

The room was warmer than outside, but there was still room for improvement. Ringabel closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the blizzard outside, and the fire crackling a few feet away, and the water beginning to boil around their potatoes. And Edea's breathing… there wasn't a sound more sweeter than that, especially the little sighs of contentment she made whenever she stretched out. Their little blanket cave was toasty and he couldn't imagine ever wanting to leave it. His eyelids seemed to grow heavier and heavier with each passing second… maybe he would close his eyes and really get comfortable, just for a few moments.

He awoke some time later, curled up on his side under the blanket. It was still warm, but it lacked the warmth of his friend's body heat, and he looked up with bleary eyes in confusion as Edea called his name again.

"Wake up, Ringabel. It's time for dinner."

"… did you finish cooking all by yourself?" he asked her, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he untangled himself from the blanket and rolled on to the dusty floor with a low noise. Whatever she'd cooked, it smelled delicious, and his stomach growled. He'd let her eat most of their packed food earlier with the assumption that he'd have a big dinner later.

"Of course I did! I know how to cook, after all." She puffed out her cheeks even as she ladled steaming soup into bowls for them both.

He dragged himself over to the table, taking the chair that seemed least rickety. "I know you know, but… it's just…"

Edea slid the bowl over in front of him, and handed him a spoon. "It's just nothing!" Her face was red, likely with the heat of the kitchen. "Someone has to cook dinner if you're just going to laze about all day. I found the meat and spices and added that, so it's not terrible. I ran out, though. Of spices."

He'd already taken some of the stew onto his spoon but now he paused, staring at the seemingly innocent liquid. It looked so inviting.

"You ran out?"

"Yeah! There just wasn't enough."

He knew there'd been only a small amount, but he hadn't thought it that minute - it was supposed to be enough to last a group of grown men for a month! Edea plopped down next to him and looked at him expectantly as she picked up her own spoon. "Go on, Ringabel," she said with a smile. "Don't you want to taste my home-made cooking?"

"Of course I do!" he exclaimed, then shoved the spoon into his mouth before he could think about what he was doing. Immediately he cringed; not because it tasted terrible, but because it was still very hot, and now his tongue was scalded. Edea was laughing, and to deny her the satisfaction of seeing him spit out his food, he carefully swallowed it instead.

At the very least, it left a trail of heat all the way from his mouth to his stomach, and he sighed. That was one way to warm up. Even if the cabin wasn't as cool as it was earlier, there was still a chill, especially now that the cooking fire was low. It had been a very long time since the cabin had been weather protected against drafts.

"It's fine," he told her. It wasn't a lie; he thought perhaps his tastebuds had been burnt before they could actually get a taste of the food. Either way, it was decent and he could at least chew the meat and potatoes. It would be dinner.

Edea seemed pleased, beaming at him before she dug into her large bowl. "Good! I'm so hungry! This took forever to make."

"Did it?" Ringabel went back to eating, at a much slower pace than she, watching her eat as much as he was taking care of his scalded tongue. When he took a moment to glance around, he could see that the windows were covered by thick curtains, and there was no light coming through, not even the stars and moon. He could still hear the blizzard outside - how long had it been raging?

"Yeah, like a full hour." She stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm slaving over a hot stove and you're sleeping like a baby! You like the couch so much, you can sleep on it tonight. As if I'm going to let you share the bed with me."

"Ah, but then who would keep you warm at night?" he asked, stirring around a piece of soggy potato. It had been overcooked.

"Oh, don't worry. I still have my sword, after all."

His sense of taste began to come back as he was finishing up his bowl, surprising him as he tasted a clump of pepper that hadn't dissolved entirely. Edea, meanwhile, went back for seconds. He took the opportunity while her back was turned to hold his nose and gulp down the rest of what was left; while it was mostly just water, it would be enough to fill his stomach for the night.

"We can keep the leftovers in the icebox," he told her as he went to clean up; it was just natural, after all, for him to clean after she cooked. And though the icebox was empty of any ice, Eternia's climate meant that there were shutters in the back that could be opened to the outside. That would be enough to keep things cool. There. Breakfast and possibly lunch as well. He also scrubbed down the surfaces and put the food scraps aside, popping some pieces of meat into his mouth to get the fuzzy feeling off his tongue.

Edea finished up her seconds as he came back to the table, wishing that they'd thought to get snow for drinks. Coffee, tea, hot cocoa, anything. He needed to get the taste of her food out his mouth. When Edea turned her back to him, he snuck a sip out of the bowl where the beans had been soaking.

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Edea scraped her spoon against the edges of the bowl.

"I guess… we could go to bed," she suggested. "There's not a lot to do here. I mean… what do they do in small towns anyway? There's no stores to go shopping at, no restaurants to go to for dinner. And in a blizzard on top of that?" And there was no Tiz around to ask.

"Read books?" he replied, shrugging. "I'm sure the women would be sitting by candlelight and working on their sewing, and they would be reading Crystalist scripture. We were ill-prepared for an overnight stay; the only book we have on us is my journal."

"I've already read that enough."

"Rude."

Edea giggled and left her bowl on the table as she wandered across the space over to the bed, falling back onto it with a laugh. Dust kicked up at her movements, which she ignored. "Well… we could tell each other bedtime stories."

"Would you like that? I'll tuck you in and tell you stories about the strongest knight in all Eternia."

"Mmm, yeah," Edea hummed, rolling over onto her stomach to face him as he approached. "Yeah, that'll be nice." Then she hesitated for a moment before continuing. "You know I was only kidding about making you sleep on the couch, right? It's too cold for that."

He didn't know, and lifted an eyebrow in surprise. "I can stay warm enough witho-"

"I can't," Edea insisted, and he could see her face growing red, even in the dim light of the oil lamps. "I won't be warm without someone next to me, or at least a nice big fire, and this place is too small for that. The bed is made for two people. You'll fit just fine."

"Oh…" Ringabel wasn't quite sure what to say to that. So he decided not to say anything, instead moving across the room to bank the fire. "Let's go to bed, then." After the fire came blowing out almost all of the oil lamps, save one that he carried over to the bed with him.

He saw that Edea had a thick comforter already covering the mattress, and now she laid down three more at the foot of the bed, folding them back so that she and Ringabel could get nice and comfortable before pulling them all over them. The mattress was quite large, almost enough for three adults and she really didn't mind sharing a bed with him, not when Eternia's weather was their common enemy. No one was stupid enough to sleep alone in the middle of a blizzard when they had other options. She wasn't stubborn enough to attempt such a feat. She wasn't cruel enough to leave him on the couch by himself, even if he would be closer to the fire.

They had both kept their shoes on until the very last, and so when Edea tucked her feet under the comforter, she was disappointed to learn that her feet weren't cold enough to touch against his legs to disturb him. She did it anyway, smiling a bit when he whined and moved away from her.

"Stay on your side of the bed," he threatened.

"That's my line," she retorted back, snuggling into the blankets as he pulled them up around them. Though the bed lacked any sort of pillow, she'd folded up an extra blanket for head-cushioning purposes. Then, she placed her sheathed sword between them as a boundary. He pressed a finger to it, and she slapped his hand, causing him to hiss in mock-pain.

"Alright," she said, once they'd got situated. There was plenty of space between them, enough that she could curl her legs up and not touch his, even though her knees went under the sword's edge. "Tell me a bedtime story, Ringabel."

The oil in the lamp he'd set on a small table on his side of the bed would burn out soon, and it was dim enough that he could only _just_ make out her face, mostly through the light reflecting in her eyes. "Very well, dear. How about… the story of the Knight who saved Eternia through her heroic and wise actions?"

"I like the sound of this story." Edea wiggled closer and he nearly forgot what he was about to say as he met her eyes. This was different. This was new. While they had shared a bed before, that had been in different circumstances; with the others. They had never been alone together like this, and so close. Tiz always slept between the girls and Ringabel.

Ringabel swallowed, then found himself stammering. "Well, er… a very long, long time ago, there lived a young Lady Knight in Eternia…" His cheeks were warm enough that he wouldn't need her body heat. "She was the youngest Knight, but was also the strongest, and the kindest, and the most beautiful."

"Go on."

It was getting easier to talk, especially when she smiled at him. "She spent her days protecting Eternia. There were many threats, all of which she thwarted. Such as… an evil empire that sought to use the Earth Crystal for their own needs, who would send armies across the land, destroying villages. There was a Dragon that wanted Eternia's treasure for its own, and so it disguised itself as a human to cause chaos from within. There was a tax collector from another country who would kidnap citizens for ransom. She beat them all, and with one hand tied behind her back."

"Boring."

"There were also threats from within," he countered, glowering at her. "The Lady Knight was just and fair, but there were other Knights who wanted power. And power they sought, when they gathered in a meeting one day."

He continued on with the story, detailing how the other Knights - they were not Dark Knights, just evil ones - hatched a plan to raise taxes and burn orphanages and kick kittens, and lure the Lady Knight out of Eternia so they could conquer the city. And how the Lady Knight went to another country and made it better, before returning to Eternia with enough time to stop the plot and kick some butts.

When the story concluded, Edea yawned and stretched, smile still on her face. "And then she lived happily ever after?"

"Of course. She and Eternia's many subjects, all of whom admired her for her beauty and strength and swordsmanship." Ringabel replied, watching her movements. His eyes had long adjusted to the darkness of the cabin.

"She ruled with a fair but firm hand across the realm, and was loved by not only Eternia's people, but also those across the world!" Edea elaborated, and she reached across the space to press her finger against his nose. He wrinkled it.

"Yes, yes. Though, none loved her more than the Dark Knight of Eternia, who hoped to rule beside her one day."

Edea fell silent, her finger tapping against his nose.

"Is that what you're planning to do? Return to Eternia with me?"

Ringabel went silent as well, breathing out warm air against her hand, frowning as her finger slipped down to press against his mouth. If she'd wanted him to answer him, then she'd have to move that. Truthfully, he hadn't known what he was saying when he spoke. He'd love nothing more than to remain at Edea's side for the rest of their lives, but there was still the matter of the Dark Knight from Edea's world… and what to do with his own world, which he'd left in shatters.

When he pursed his lips against her finger, she withdrew her hand.

"You don't have to -" she started, but he interrupted her, embolden by the sound of her voice. Edea's voice, her very presence, could inspire him to do many things. To be brave.

"Once all is said and done, and my business is finished, I would be delighted to return to Eternia with you," he forced out. When Edea looked at him, her eyes widening, he found himself losing some of his nerve. "I-if that's alright with you, I mean. I want to spend time with… I mean, your home is my home, and… I don't really have much of a world to return to. I can think of nothing more pleasant th-

"It's okay," Edea cut him off, and he watched her snuggle further down into the blankets. "You can stay with us. The basement will work, right?"

He huffed, his breath coming out in a cloud.

Edea laughed and the sheath of the sword made a noise as both it and she inched a little closer to him under the covers. "The fire must be going down. It's getting colder."

Ringabel risked peeking out from over the covers to where he could just see the hint of coals from the fireplace. It would last until morning, but the heat output would be low.

"I've banked it," he explained. "I don't want to have to go through the trouble of relighting it in the morning when it's cold and we're half-asleep."

"Ringabel, we both know Fire magic. Lighting things on fire is a breeze."

"Be that as it may, it'll be warm enough in here. Especially _here"_. He raised an eyebrow at her, grinning widely.

It was Edea's turn to huff, and he watched her roll over onto her stomach, wrapping her arms around the blanket underneath her. "Don't make this any more weird than it already is," she said, puffing her cheeks out.

"Forgive me," he offered, and he too rolled over onto his stomach, kicking his feet slightly against the covers above them. They stayed like that for some time, Ringabel resting his head on his arms and attempting to at least nap.

It was much too early for him to really sleep. He was a night owl, after all, and he'd had a nap just a while ago. As Alternis, he had perfected the art of sleeping on demand, because he was often times up late and waking early, with perhaps a couple of hours of free time in the middle of his day in which to crash. That was one of his skills he had apparently forgotten, and now he struggled to fall asleep, too aware of everything going on.

Edea on the other hand, was a happy hummingbird, full of energy no matter the time of day, and someone he'd rarely seen nap. He closed his eyes and listened to her as she attempted to get comfortable, rolling over onto her back, then again onto her stomach, and then to her side, before she sat up in bed.

He opened one eye at this, rolling slightly to the side so that he could watch her. "What are you doing?"

The oil in the lamp was out, but his eyes had long adjusted the scant light coming in through the loft window, and he could see her. "It's too warm," Edea complained, and he watched wordlessly as she pushed back one of the comforters, helpfully kicking it off his feet so that it piled at the foot of the big bed.

"Do you need another bedtime story?" he offered.

"No," Edea replied. "But thank you, for the offer. It's just…"

They lay in silence for a few moments, as Ringabel waited patiently for her to finish her sentence.

"This cabin… had the Orthodoxy not exiled my father, I would have grown up in here perhaps. Had the Great Plague not happened, I would have been able to visit my grandparents here. This country life would have been mine, and I would have never known otherwise. I would have been like Tiz."

"That's a thought."

"But, it all happened, didn't it? The Great Plague destroyed this town, and my father left the country to gather support for his coup. The cabin was left empty, and years later, I'm trying to fall asleep beside the weirdest person that I know, who can't keep his mouth shut when I'm monologuing."

"I've no idea who you're talking about," Ringabel said, but he reached across the space between them, only to hesitate and place his hand down just on his side of the sword. "It happened, and this cabin was left behind as a memento of those days that your family can't return to. However, perhaps we can look at today as the start of a new era? Once we return home, and our journey is over, you can look into remodeling these cabins. The Lee family may not return here, but another family could make it cozy and homelike."

"Yeah," Edea breathed, and he could see her looking at his hand. "We can spruce it up a little. Maybe a add couple of rooms? Though I think Gravemark could use some nice shopping centers to really boost its appeal." She settled back onto the bed, fluffing up the folded blanket before laying her head on it. "Thanks Ringabel. For listening, I guess."

"You're welcome," he replied graciously, and the two of them lay in silence for a while longer. The wind outside was continuing to howl, rattling across the wood of the cabin and the old shingles above them. He found himself listening to the storm, trying to measure where the snow was hitting and how much could be piling against the walls just based on the sounds it made.

Suddenly, the crossguard of a sword pushed against his chest, followed quickly by a head of hair.

"Edea?" He opened his eyes wide as the girl continued to snuggle against him, getting comfortable. Her legs tangled in his own.

"Now it's too cold," she complained. "Don't worry, my sword is still here to keep things proper."

"Yes, your sword," Ringabel said quietly, nudging it off his chest and against his shoulder, where the crossguard could fit without bruising him by morning. He wasn't sure what to do with his hands now, but slowly let his arm down until one settled behind her waist. The other was trapped as Edea decided his shoulder made a better pillow than an old, musty blanket.

"It's just for tonight," she reminded him when he let out a soft noise. "Be good, Ringabel."

"I am a good boy," he said to her in a whisper. So close, it didn't seem right to speak at a normal volume.

Edea's only response was a laugh that set his heart pounding. It was so quiet in the cabin that he wondered if she could hear it, but if she could, she made no indication of the sort, yawning against his neck before she went quiet and still.

His mind was racing along with his heart, and sleep did not come easily. Even when Edea's breathing became slow and even, and her grip on her sword slackened, he lay there, listening to the blizzard that rattled the windows every now and then. It seemed like hours when he finally found himself drifting off, storm still raging outside. Hopefully it would be over before they woke. After all, how much longer could a blizzard possibly go on?

Much longer than he could ever have expected, it turned out.


	2. Day 2

Ringabel was one who slept in as much as he was allowed, and so it was Edea who woke first, rousing shortly after dawn. She yawned and snuggled closer into the teddy bear that she was cuddling, burying her face into the fabric of its… Shirt? His shirt?

Oh right, she was cuddling with Ringabel, wasn't she? Judging from the lack of tension in his form as she pressed her cheek into his shoulder, he was still asleep. Edea leaned back just slightly so that she could check - yep, his eyes were closed and he had drooled somewhat, causing some of his hair to stick to his face.

Still, he looked peaceful, and he wasn't so bad when he was being quiet, she decided, and closed her eyes to get a little more sleep herself. Beyond his breathing, it was mostly quiet in the cabin, save for the sound of the wind outside.

The wind outside?

Edea peeked her head out of the covers to look around. The high ceiling allowed for several windows near the top of the walls, where she could see the sun shining through. But there was something a bit muted about the sunshine. Something that was very familiar to an Eternian.

"It's still snowing," she groaned.

Ringabel snored.

Now she was faced with a true dilemma. She could face the harsh, cold cabin air to check their surroundings, or she could continue to stay warm and cozy in the blanket cave, even though Ringabel needed to take a shower. Then, once he woke up, she could make him get out of bed first…

"Come on, Edea. You are a Sky Knight and daughter of the Templar. You've grown up in this weather. Just… get out of bed."

It was very hard to convince herself to move.

In the end, survival won out. Edea dove back into the covers with Ringabel, pulling the blanket tightly over her shoulders. Ringabel slept on, and she found herself watching him for a few moments, wishing she could be sleeping too. This close, she could see that his eyelashes, nearly as white as his hair, were long enough to settle on his cheeks, and fluttered when she reached a finger up to tap his bottom lip that was hanging open. She could wake him now, she was sure, but…

Ringabel's tongue flicked out to press against her finger, as though it were a piece of food that had dropped. Edea withdrew her hand with a squeak, wiping her finger down on his shirt. The noise only caused the man to frown in his sleep, a low sound escaping him. Her name. "Edea…"

She wasn't ready to end this yet, she realized, when she looked over at him.

"Just a few more hours," she told herself quietly, cuddling back into his arms. It was much warmer this way. He clutched her tightly, stretching a bit as they both settled back on the bed. "Just a few more hours, then I'm kicking him out." He looked so peaceful after all, and she knew he'd had difficulty with sleeping in the past. She'd let him rest. Yeah.

She drifted back to sleep for a few more hours.

In those few hours it was Ringabel who woke next, to a face full of blonde hair and a crossguard poking into his collarbone.

Spitting out strands of Edea's hair that had ended up in his mouth, he disentangled himself from the girl so that he could sit up, missing the way her eyes opened easily to look at him. Pushing sticky strands of his own hair out of his face - he really needed to wash some of the product out - he glanced around with bleary eyes.

"Go check outside," Edea murmured at him.

"… fine," he said. Remembering that they had coffee beans and that he'd need to brew them, Ringabel rubbed at his face as he gingerly removed himself from the bed. The cold never bothered him, anyway. He'd faced worse as an orphan, and as a Dark Knight.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked her, as he tugged his boots back on and draped last night discarded blanket over his shoulders. Edea was getting comfortable back in the bed, putting her sword aside so that she could pull all of the covers over her.

"Just a little while. You look so much like a baby when you sleep, it's practically criminal to wake you. Since I've been waiting for you to wake all this time, you can go look outside."

"I'm going," he replied, trying not to let his rougher, grumpier edges come through. He had never been a morning person, but around his friends, he could attempt not to be as surly. Eyes half closed, he trudged across the cabin to the front door.

A few moments later, he called back to her, sounding more alert. "Edea? Get out of bed and come here."

In her nest, Edea wondered if she could pretend that she hadn't heard, but there was something in the tone of her voice that told her just needed to suck it up and listen to him for once. "I'm coming!" she replied, bracing herself as she flung the covers aside and practically lept off the bed, heading toward him.

She'd only made it halfway when she stopped in her tracks, looking past him at the doorway.

Or at least, at the snow in the doorway. It had piled up over her head, and almost to the top of Ringabel's, blocking out most of the sun. "That's just pile up, right?" she laughed, approaching him. He'd grabbed a wooden spoon from the kitchen and was just now brandishing it at the top of the block of snow. They both watched as the pile up fell… from the top few inches of snow, revealing a blindingly white plane as far as the eye could see. Or at least as far as his eye could see. The build-up was higher than she was tall.

"No," he said, as though it weren't obvious. "It's rather deep."

"Argh! Let me try the back door. Give me that." Edea snatched the spoon from him and twirled to head across the cabin toward the back door. She stomped as she went, growling under the breath.

When she wrenched the back door open, she had to leap back as part of the wall of snow collapsed at her feet. It seemed even _higher_ here and not just because she was shorter than Ringabel.

Mrgrgr!

"Did you… just growl at the snow?" Ringabel asked as he came forth with a broom, trading it out for his spoon. She huffed as she swept the snow as best she could.

"We're snowed in. I'm snowed in. With _you_."

"You're welcome."

"That's not funny!" she bit at him, and the grin that had been on his face died. "Be serious, Ringabel. This isn't like being snowed in at Central Command. Agnes and Tiz aren't with us, and we don't have many supplies. We'll starve!" And she privately added that she didn't want to spend much time alone with him.

She could see the serious side of him come out, the side that was usually buried under mountains of hair products. "Edea, dear, everything be fine," he assured her, and he very gently took the broom out of her hands before she could break it, holding onto her wrists. "Tiz and Agnes know we're here, and the old men do as well. You and I are both healthy enough to survive on sparse rations, and I know this isn't your first time being out in a blizzard with no supplies. We'll be fine, please trust me. We have shelter, and warmth, and each other. I won't let you come to harm."

Edea took a deep breath and watched their hands for a few moments before she looked up at him and nodded. Ringabel could be weird, but he was reliable when he needed to be. She could depend on him in serious situations, she knew. If he thought they'd be fine, then they would be fine.

Then he ruined everything. "We're more liable to die of boredom than anything else."

She stamped on his booted foot and went to heat up breakfast, grabbing the spoon and smacking him as she went. He laughed.

Ringabel made to follow her, but instead went to the fire, throwing more logs onto it and poking the coals until they blazed with life. If they were going to spend the day in the cabin, he wanted it to be warm.

Edea had started a fire in the kitchen and was now reheating their leftovers, poking the pot viciously. After a few moments of stirring the slush around, she found herself calming down. It was just a day, wasn't it? The food wouldn't be good, but they _would_ have food, and she could relax, have a little fun, peace, and quiet. There was enough room in the cabin that she could work on some of her forms. Yeah, that would be nice. She could make Ringabel stay in the loft and out of trouble… oh, who was she kidding? That man couldn't stay out of trouble if his life depended on it.

"Breakfast smells great," Ringabel said. He'd come over to check on the soaking beans and stirred them with his fingers, shivering at the cold water.

"Gross. Did you wash your hands?"

"Er, of course."

There was a pause, then Ringabel turned and headed into the small bathroom that was attached to the house. "I should wash my hair," she heard him comment loudly in her direction.

"Washing your hair now of all times?" He was so vain, honestly!

"Good hygiene is important," he called back. "Besides! If we're to stay together tonight as well, you'll want me to look my best!" She rolled her eyes as he closed the door.

Inside the bathroom, Ringabel found it was… a bit sad, actually. There was a large window, the sunlight mostly blocked by the snow. A small crystal hung near the window, it's dim, weak light barely reaching the shadows of the small room. Ringabel cringed as he took it all in. The toilet seemed to be the only type of indoor plumbing, a luxury that he supposed had been necessary, given the extreme cold of Eternia. To his dismay, a basin of dusty water stood on a large table, along with a bit of soap. He'd have to use that to wash, and then get more snow to melt. Nearby, a tub sat on the floor, waiting to be filled with heated water for a bath. It was tempting.

When he emerged from the bathroom sometime later, his hair was at least semi-clean and still wet, though he scrubbed at it with a towel that he'd found and had dusted out. At least he felt more awake, even if he still really wanted some coffee now.

"Stay in front of the fire," Edea told him. "The last thing we need is you getting sick with a cold." She was already seated at the table, because of course.

"Yes ma'am," he replied. The smell of breakfast made his stomach growl, but he obediently sat in front of the fire and waited for his hair to get more dry, blowing sadly at the limp locks that partially obscured his vision. Behind him, he could hear Edea eating. How cruel!

"I left some for you," she said when she heard him whine. "You're making dinner tonight."

"Very well," he agreed. "Edea, will you be a dear and make some coffee? I'm … " He was tired and getting warm and cozy. It was very tempting to fall asleep in front of the fire. But he knew that would be folly.

"Must I do everything?" the girl replied, but he heard her get up from the table anyway. Over to the kitchen, then to the door to get some snow and back again… Ringabel closed his eyes and listened to her attempt to make coffee. It was nice. Somewhat domestic. His mind wandered, imagining living with Edea in a nice home in the countryside. No, they'd likely live in Central Command, and they could have dinner and coffee delivered to them anytime they wished for it. Still, sometimes they'd go out to battle, and would need to make dinner for themselves then in their tent. He smiled at the fantasy, imagining Edea in an apron as she cooked a loving meal for him. Ahh… that would be the life. One tired of constant fighting, after all.

He was in the middle of watching fantasy Edea eat dessert when the real one startled him. "Here," she said. As the daydreaming died away, he opened his eyes with some difficulty. Apparently, his day dream had been about to turn to real dreaming.

"Ah, my deepest thanks." He replied, hoping she couldn't tell he was drowsing. Gratefully accepted the cup, Ringabel held it tightly in his hands to warm them up and took a deep breathing, inhaling the wonderful scent of coffee beans. This was the life. The liquid warmed him, and the caffeine was sorely needed. He wouldn't just survive, he would _live_ now.

Edea settled next to him, and he glanced over to her. She had her bowl of breakfast in her lap, and was eating away. She noticed him looking. "What? It's warm over here, okay?"

"I said nothing," he replied, looking down at his cup of coffee. He didn't need to eat much, and had, even recently, gone mornings with only coffee to fill his stomach. Perhaps he should do the same now, to ensure they had enough to eat for the days they were snowed in. Rationing.

She must have read his mind. "Don't forget to eat," she grumped. "I'm not going to let you starve yourself or some other stupid noble thing."

"Of course not," Ringabel said airily. "I would never think such a - "

"Yes you would. We both know it. You're so weird, Ringabel. I'd be more surprised if you weren't thinking of some way to sacrifice yourself for me."

"I - It's not just for you," he tried to defend himself, but now she was looking at him and he could feel his cheeks and ears grow hot. "It truly isn't. In this situation, we want to reserve our resources. I'll eat later."

Edea narrowed her eyes at him, looking him over. He could feel himself break out into a sweat. "Go get something to eat, Ringabel."

He wasn't going to win this battle. Ringabel knew when to fold. "Very well," he murmured, and climbed to his feet. It was just as well; his hair now felt much drier, and the coffee and fire both had warmed him nicely. Crossing over to the small kitchen, he ladled some leftover stew into a bowl. He could feel the woman's eyes on him as he tasted it, and tried not to cringe. The spices were more potent than they had been last night! The potatoes had turned to mush, and the meat was stringy. He'd survive on this, but he'd hate every moment of it.

"Good Ringabel," Edea said, like one might compliment a puppy, as she helped herself to another serving. There wasn't very much left - enough perhaps for a light lunch, and then they'd need to make something new for dinner. "I can't have you dying on me. You're my emergency meat supply, after all."

That again? Ringabel grinned at her, ignoring the way his mouth felt fuzzy and his lips tingled. "Heaven forbid."

The water from the sink was still brownish, but together they decided that it probably wouldn't kill them to wash the dishes in. Ringabel went to work, scrubbing the tin bowls with old, musty soap. Once they returned home, whichever home that was, they would have to clean up Gravemark, it seemed, he thought to himself. That made his thoughts wander further. Home? Edea's world was not the world that he was born in, but the idea of returning to that world, knowing that his family and friends were all dead, made him feel sick. And yet, as the Dark Knight, and one of the few surviving members of the Council of Six, it was his duty to ensure Eternia would be alright. Perhaps he could return for just a short time… but then, how would he return to the world of his friends? He looked up at Edea. She was stretched out in front of the fire now, her feet kicking idly. It made him smile.

"Ah, if only there was a fur rug," he commented. The two of them, sprawled out together over the rug in front of the fire, cuddling and rolling together, wrapped up in one another so that their body heat was more effective at warming them than the fire… Edea rolled over to look at him, propping herself up on her elbows and glaring.

"What are you talking about? Don't be weird."

Ringabel was not about to explain what his imagination had come up with, and instead frowned. "Nothing, dear. Why don't we move the sofa closer to the fire?"

Moving the sofa closer accomplished one of two things. It cleared up more room in the center of the cabin, and made it so that they could lounge on the sofa and still stay toasty warm. Together, they inched it as close as they thought was safe. Once that was done, Edea stretched out on it. He crammed himself onto the very end, right at her feet.

That done, the two of them relaxed for some time, the light moving across the room with the sun. Quiet was peaceful, after all, and she moved her feet into his lap so that he could give her a foot massage.

"Ringabel, go up to the loft and don't come down until I say so, okay?" Once both feet were properly massaged, she broke the silence.

"Why would I do that?" he asked her, looking up from where he had been playing with her toes. His hair got in the way, and he pushed it out of his eyes. When she looked up at him, she paused.

"You look really weird like that," she said, nudging him with a foot.

He felt himself flushing. Edea had seen him with his hair unstyled before, but he tried to limit the amount of times that happened. "Excuse me, I didn't expect to be staying overnight, and didn't pack any hair gel."

"We wouldn't have been able to carry the amount it takes to style your hair," she pointed out, at the sight of his red face, she seemed to take pity.

"I'm going to practice some forms. Stay out of the way, okay? I could hit you."

With no form of entertainment on them, no books, no sewing, no extra wood to whittle (not that Ringabel knew how to whittle, but he could learn), and no one to talk to but one another, the idea of spending a day locked in a cabin together… was a dream come true! And yet, Ringabel was highly tempted to throw himself back in bed and attempt to sleep the day away. He doubted Edea would let him get away with that for long, though. She'd never liked to lay around doing nothing, after all, and her current energy was proof of that. As Edea tested the room to make sure she had enough space for her forms, Ringabel rearranged the furniture somewhat - pushing the table closer to the wall, moving aside the screen, and took the opportunity to look around some more in the drawers of the desks and in the giant trunk he'd noticed. With better lighting, there was more to see, and after some time Edea joined him.

If she had been hoping to find family heirlooms, she was disappointed. What remained in the drawers was a book of Crystalist prayers that threatened to fall apart, and other miscellaneous items that he couldn't figure out the use for. The trunk held scraps of fabric and old blankets, including one that looked suspiciously small to be used as anything but the blanket of a cradle, which Edea handled oddly gently. After an hour of this, Edea seemed to get bored and exiled him to the loft, poking at his behind and legs with the sheath as he clambered up the ladder.

Down below, the girl began to practice her sword forms.

Ringabel sat on the top of the loft and watched; Edea was right in that she needed space if he didn't want any extra bruises. The loft was comfortable enough; it did hold extra blankets, and he wondered if he could make a sort of nest in which to sleep, but watching Edea's movements were more …. Interesting.

She was wearing only her leggings and an undershirt, swinging her sword down over and over. Ringabel recognized the merit in doing so; practice made perfect, and she was a student of the Swordmaster. Still, even though she didn't seem to be working hard, a sheen of sweat quickly built up on her arms and shoulders and her face was red. Her arms were strong, yet thin. They looked almost delicate, except when she flexed her arms, which showed off her muscles quite nicely.

"You can stop staring anytime," she grumbled up at him. Her face was flushed with the movements.

"Ah, forgive me." He rolled over onto his back to look up at the faded wood of the ceiling. "It was just such an interesting sight."

"I'm going to throw you out the window," she threatened.

"You would never!"

The loft window was far too small for him to fit through… probably.

Still, she had a point. While they had some time to themselves, why couldn't he work on his own forms? Or work out. Heaven knows he needed it. Ringabel carefully climbed down the ladder of the loft until he could turn, fit his knees on one of the rungs, and hang there.

"What are you doing?" Edea asked.

The blood was rushing to his head. "Exercising," he managed to say as he did a sit-up. Ow ow ow that burned, but it was a good type of burn he hadn't felt in quite a while. Ringabel let out a noise and hung there for a moment, looking at Edea upside down. "You don't mind, do you dear? I'm a bit out of shape."

He'd used to do these types of things for fun. For fun! No wonder he'd been good as a Dark Knight if he tortured himself regularly like this.

"Of course I don't," the girl replied, and she went back to her forms, turning her back to him.

Right then. Ringabel tried not to groan as he attempted another hanging sit up, his hands behind his head. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this position, but he would simply come to that later.

Just a few feet away, Edea continued to practice her forms. Swordfighting took discipline, lots of work, and repetitive movement! … the forms had been one of her least liked things to do while she'd been learning, but now seemed like an opportune time to work on them, so she could at least say that she had been.

Not that… she expected anyone would be asking her any time soon.

Again and again her sword came down, until she felt that perhaps she was ready to move onto something new, if only she weren't distracted by the man that was grunting behind her back as he worked out. Edea sneaked a look at him.

She had no idea how he'd even got into that mess, but his face was red and covered with sweat. His undershirt, which he'd slept in, had become a victim to the force of gravity and fallen down to his neck, revealing a sweaty swath of pasty white skin across his stomach and chest. She'd seen it before, considering how some of the asterisk costumes were open in the front, but not like… this. Edea watched as he did another sit-up, his stomach flexing, glistening in the light. He held the position for a few seconds, holding his breath, then lowered himself back down, breathing heavily. Sweat glistened and trailed down his chest.

When he opened his eyes, using his undershirt to mop his face, he caught sight of her staring.

"Do you like what you see?" he asked, grinning at her. The effect was lost by the shiny redness of his face.

"Does that really work?" She decided to ignore his question, as usual.

"Yes," he replied, lifting himself up a bit to look at his knees. "This was one of my common exercises when I was recovering from the white magic chamber. It's intense, I must say that." He had pushed himself then, and probably performed other exercises that weren't exactly healthy. He paused to think on that, letting himself dangle from the ladder, his hands falling nearly to the floor.

"I want to try," Edea decided, coming over to him. "Get off the ladder, Ringabel."

"… I don't know how."

There was silence.

"What do you mean you don't know how?"

Ringabel wiggled a bit, attempting to sit up. He'd apparently reached his limit as far as exercise went though, and after a bit of flailing, only just managed to grab one of the ladder rungs with his hands. Then, he attempted to get his legs out from where they were hooked, but found that he couldn't, no matter how much he twisted and shifted. After a few moments, he seemed to give up, falling back onto the ladder again.

"You're stuck," Edea said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm resting," he protested.

"You're totally stuck!" She laughed now, setting down the sword on the table so that she could have her hands free. "What's wrong, Ringabel? Need a hand?" She waited for him to fold, watching him with her hands on his hips as he hung limply.

"No, I…"

There was more silence. More waiting.

"Please," Ringabel finally gave in, and she watched him struggle to sit up again. "If you wouldn't mind, Edea…"

"Okay, okay." She should take pity on him, or else he was liable to whine until her eardrums burst. Edea approached Ringabel, hesitating for just a moment before she looped her arms under his, helping him to sit up and supporting his weight as he slipped one leg, than the other, out from between the rungs of the ladder. It was very tempting to drop him midway.

Once both of the man's feet were squarely on the ground, he turned to face her triumphantly, grinning, albeit a bit sheepishly.

"There! Thank you, my dear."

"My turn," she decided. Despite Ringabel's protests, she managed to coerce him into helping her hang off the rungs of the ladder just as he had, the man's arms supporting her weight until she was good and ready. Then - "Alright, Ringabel. Step back."

Anything that he could do, she could do just as well! But… ow. Edea hung there for a moment, silently cursing him. Then not so silently cursing him. "Why did you think this was a good idea?" she asked. Her head was beginning to feel light, and she could feel the blood rushing to it as she attempted a sit up.

Ringabel was hovering, attempting to spot her, and his hand came and rested underneath her lower back to give her some support. "I was a Dark Knight. It seemed like a good idea at the time. At the _time_." He declined to remind himself that he'd just done this in front of her moments ago.

The only response she could give him was a grunt as she managed to connect her chest to her knees - sort of - and fell back against his hand. If it was there, then she might as well take advantage of it, right? Ringabel kept her steady, and she could feel his other hand at her back now.

"I can keep going," she said after a taking a few moments to catch her breath. She opened her eyes to look at him, and even upside down she could see the frown on his face.

"I believe you," he said in a way that clearly said that he didn't believe her.

"Mrgrgr," she muttered, wriggling as she attempted another sit up. Her stomach wasn't made for such abuse! Her arms were all that was required to be strong! Who cared about things like core muscles? Still, she wasn't about to give up until she had attempted as many sit ups as he had…. How many had he done again?

Ringabel was quiet as she continued to huff and struggle, and after more than a few painful sit-ups, she leaned back against his hand, looking up at him. She'd counted at least twenty, and Ringabel had only done about nineteen from her count. "What?" she asked, when he said nothing to her at first. He was staring at her, like he sometimes did in moments when he didn't think she'd notice.

"Nothing," he said quickly. Too quickly. Edea glared at him suspiciously, then gasped and nearly fell when she realized - she could feel her shirt against her neck… and not her stomach like it should have been.

"You pervert!" she yelled at him. It wasn't as effective as usual, considering that she was upside down and her face was red and sweaty, but she yelled all the same, and flailed at him. Her hand smacked at his face.

To his credit, Ringabel merely flinched and did not step away from where he was still supporting her. "I'm not - I'm not looking!" he protested as she hit him again. Her other hand flew to tug her shirt back down over her chest and stomach, and as she flailed around to get her revenge, she felt something hard brush against her shoulder that was decidedly not his hand. Both of them froze.

"Get me up," she hissed, struggling to sit up again so that she could try and get off the ladder. She'd have an easier time hitting him then, once her feet were on the ground. Why hadn't she thought to tuck her shirt in?! Why hadn't she remembered looking at Ringabel's bare chest, nor realized her own would be visible as well?

"I am, I am," he said, his face still red as he helped her sit up and even helped her get off the ladder. The moment her feet were on the ground, he braced himself for another impact, covering his face with his hands to protect his second greatest asset (as his properly styled pompadour would always come first, if he'd had one at the moment). Seconds passed.

Letting out a breath, Ringabel peeked through his hands. Edea was glowering at him, her hands in fists… at her sides. He glanced warily at her. She was looking down at his pants. One hand twitched down to protect his _third_ greatest asset.

"You're a pervert," she spat at him.

"I am a gentleman," he protested, pouting. His face still felt hot. "I wasn't looking, I swear. Not at your chest, at least. Not that there isn't anything wrong with your chest, it's just that I wasn't looking!" Instead of replying, Edea simply turned and stalked away. With a sigh, he made to follow, like a pitiful puppy. He wanted to clear this up, and she couldn't really hide from him here! "Edea, my dear, I promise. Please…"

He followed her all the way to the bed, where she climbed into the covers. Well, he wasn't going to follow her in there in his state, but he did hover at the side of the bed, looking forlornly down at the lump under the blankets. Maybe if he pouted hard enough…

Moments passed in awkward silence.

"I'll sleep on the couch tonight," he volunteered. The lump moved as she nodded.

Depressed, Ringabel trudged over the couch and lay down on it gingerly, curling in on himself. Truthfully, he _hadn't_ been staring, not at her chest… only at her stomach, watching it clench with her movements. She was so strong, yet slim, and the way that sweat had rolled down her form had been enticing to watch. That alone had been enough to get him excited, but this was not his fault. His body had a mind of its own.

Well. His mood was thoroughly shattered. Any delight he may have had at being alone… with Edea… snowed in… was now gone, because she wasn't talking to him, and the cabin was cold without her by his side. With a little huff, Ringabel wiggled around until he could reach the very edge of the blanket and pull it over his shoulders. It would have to do… at least he had the fire nearby.

Edea's bad mood did not last long. Or rather, her empty stomach prevailed. It was later in the afternoon, judging by the dim light outside, that she emerged from the cocoon of blankets on the bed. Ringabel looked up from where he'd been stretched out on the couch, rereading through his journal, sketching idly in some spare pieces of paper he'd tucked in it beforehand.

"What's for dinner?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes. She made an adorable sight, her hair mussed and cheeks red with sleep. He drank in the sight, before realizing she'd finally spoken to him again.

"Ah, right… dinner." He hadn't been cooking; instead he had wallowed in self-pity and napped between sketches. Staying quiet to be sure that he didn't incur anymore of her wrath. With a sigh, Ringabel sat up.

"It's your turn," she pointed out. He couldn't miss the way her eyes swept over his lap before she sat down on the couch next to him. Of course, it had been long enough that there was nothing out of the ordinary now.

"I know, I know… you made breakfast, yes?" He longed to touch her hair, sweep some of the messy strands behind her ear. His hand lifted for a moment before he put it back down. "It's my turn." Even if all she'd done really, was heat the leftovers.

"We skipped lunch," she pointed out. "We never skip lunch." Her stomach grumbled in agreement.

Now she was making him feel even more guilty. "Alright, alright. I'll make dinner as quick as possible." She took up his space on the couch as soon as he stood, stretching out in the warm space like a cat. He watched her for a moment, wanting to pat her head, before her glare pushed him into the kitchen.

He supposed the beans were as ready as they would ever be. Lighting the stove with a fire spell, he dumped the beans and lentils into a clean pot, stirring gently. As it began to boil, he added in dried meat and a _conservative_ amount of spices from another one of the storage boxes that Edea dug up for him at his request.

"I knew I should have looked for more seasoning last night," she commented, half-leaning over the back of the couch as she watched him cook.

"I think you had enough," he replied as he added in more meat. Once softened, the meat would be chewy and overcooked, but it would at least add flavor, he decided. And they would have something to fill their stomachs as they waited for the snow to melt enough that they could leave the cottage.

She stuck her tongue out at him and he found himself smiling. "There's nothing wrong with experimenting, Ringabel."

"I agree. However, we do need to keep an eye on our supplies, Edea. I still remember your threat to eat me after all." That comment made her giggle, and he felt his heart hammer in his chest. This was much improved to the shunning she had done earlier in the day.

After another few long moments of silence, Edea sighed loudly and got up from the couch. He watched her move to the front door and open it… causing snow to scatter across the ground as it fell from the pile up. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Just checking to see if we can leave, yet." She pushed back some of the snow with her hands. She could almost see the top of it now, if she stood on her toes.

"Perhaps if we had a shovel. Could you find one?" He didn't recall seeing one, but given that the cabin had been used as storage, perhaps it had been squirreled away.

"No," she said, continuing to push the snow. Ringabel shook his head, then came over to take her hands in his. They were cold and wet, and he covered her fingers with his own.

"Not without gloves, my dear." He ignored the look she gave him at the name. "Besides, the snow does seem to be melting a bit. Let's wait until it's just a bit shorter before we try to go out." He didn't like the idea of possibly getting any tunnel caving in on them. He knew people who had died in such ways… as did she.

Edea puffed out her cheeks. "You just want me all to yourself." But she acquiesced all the same, pulling her hands from his grip easily and flexing her less frigid fingers.

Ringabel dutifully returned to the stove. "What man wouldn't?"

"… Gross! You could at least try to deny it."

Perhaps he shouldn't have phrased it that way. Ringabel found himself a tad flustered at the tone of her voice, clearly his throat nervously. "I simply mean to say that I enjoy spending time with you, Edea. TIme when we're not fighting monsters or we're tired from walking or when we're otherwise busy."

He could hear her finally closing the door. "It's boring," she admitted. "But… I suppose you do have a point. It's… quiet. Though I do miss Agnes and Tiz. I hope they're getting along well without us."

"Ah, but remember that without us, that means they're alone in a room together. And you know how cold it gets in Eternia… - ah!"

Edea had thrown a snowball at him, and it hit his head squarely, falling into powder across his shoulders. He turned to gape at her.

"With _Airy_ ," she reminded him, but there was a genuinely warm smile on her face. "We're alone, too, you know."

"I… I know," was all he could say, still astonished that she would attack him so brazenly when his back was turned. She giggled now at the look on his face. Her laughter heated him more than any fire could.

"Is dinner ready?"

He wanted to retort that it was difficult to cook when certain blonde women kept distracting him, but instead he shook his head and finally closed his mouth. "Let's let it sit for a few moments to thicken up. I thought I saw some flour we can add in to help."

"Ringabel!" Edea protested.

But in the end, she caved and he joined her on the couch as their dinner simmered on the stove. It smelled heavenly… or perhaps he had reached the point of hunger that anything smelled good. His stomach grumbled… followed closely by Edea's.

"I'm so hungry," Edea moaned, and he twitched as she leaned against him. They were so close! And she was so warm… he reached over to pat her shoulder carefully. She seemed to have forgiven him for the early transgression, and he wasn't keen on pushing his luck right now.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Dinner will be ready soon, and you can eat as much as you like." He knew that they needed to stay fed, and that would help them stay warm. Though they did have the wood stove that kept the cabin warm, they were still snowed in, and it could still get quite cold especially at night when the fire would go out. Without enough food, their bodies wouldn't have enough energy to keep warm in the times when the stove wasn't helping. He hummed to himself as he thought.

"I will," she assured him, and he choked mid-hum as he felt her practically snuggle up to his side, her arm wrapping around his waist. "But don't forget you need to eat too. I'll never forgive you if you sacrifice yourself for me or some other stupid thought that gets in your head."

His hand moved carefully from her shoulder to her head. She wasn't wearing her bow, and he found his fingers slid easily into the very roots of her hair. It would be even easier to slide them though the length of her hair, but… he kept his hand still. "No self-sacrifice at all. I understand, my dear. You want to save me for the very end."

"What?"

"In case you need to eat my flesh for survival. You said you would!"

"Oh… right. Yeah."

He cocked his head at her as she started to turn red, then lifted an eyebrow when she looked up to glare at him. "Don't get any weird thoughts in your head about… oh, I don't know, you being happy to be consumed so that our flesh could be one!"

That made him laugh. "I would never say such a thing." Thinking such a thing on the other hand… it had been very tempting to say those thoughts out loud, but he had worried she would just leave his body laying around if he did. At least give him a burial with honors!

Edea shoved her hand into his stomach. "Yeah…. I thought so." The glare she gave him was nothing short of suspicious, and he smiled at her, laying on as much charm and adoration as humanly possible.

"Just spending this time with you is enough," he said. "I would rather be alive to experience it."

Sometimes, his mouth just said things. Her eyes went wide, and she looked away, and this was one of those times where he wasn't sure if he had something good or bad. Except… as he tried to watch her face, he felt her hand sliding back around his waist, and she leaned into his chest until her face was obscured fully by her hair.

His own hand slid down her thick locks of hair.

"I was cold," she said after a peaceful, if not awkward moment, and pulled back from him. "Is dinner ready, do you think?"

He took a deep breath, his heart hammering away. His hand trailed down her arms… "I'm.. sure it is," he decided, and he hadn't even finished the sentence before the girl pushed herself out of his arms and practically leapt up off the couch, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Great! I'll take two bowls!"

He still didn't have much of an appetite, and so was content with only the one bowl as she ate from two at once (so they could clean up faster, she said). The lentils and beans that comprised most of the soup had expanded greatly in the water, and he'd ended up making much more than he'd expected. As long as they continued eating at the same rate, he wouldn't have to cook dinner again until the night after next, perhaps… though he hoped by then they would be out of the cabin.

… a part of him was hoping that he'd have the chance to cook for her at least one more time.

Edea was polishing off the last of her bowl, and the dregs of his as well, when she yawned.

"Tired already?" he asked. They really hadn't done much today, trapped as they were.

"Bored, more like…" she admitted, and she glanced toward the living area and bed. "There's really not a lot for us to do except talk, and eat, and sleep." When Edea looked back at him, he was surprised to see she looked somewhat guilty. "Not that talking to you is a terrible chore!"

It was enough to make him chuckle. "No? I would be happy to talk as much as you'd like, make it entertaining."

"No thanks. I don't want to listen to some of what you have to say."

Well then. He frowned at her, even if he knew what she meant. She ignored the look and continued on. "I suppose that if I were born and raised in Gravemark, I would be… "

"Still you. You would be working on your sword forms."

"Yeah," she said, smiling at him. "Working on my forms. But then I'd also take a break and work on sewing some clothes. Cleaning, maybe. Oh, making candles! I've heard people do that. Reading some new books from the big city… maybe helping out with younger siblings, like Alternis. He needs attention and care."

Ringabel wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry at that remark. If Braev had never left Gravemark, he was certain Alternis would have died a very early, very painful death. And if he hadn't died, he would have wished he had… no need to tell Edea those dark thoughts. Instead, he added, "Alternis would be… doing repairs around the cottage. He'd have his fair amount of chores, such as making sure that there was enough wood chopped for the stove. Fixing drafts. Making furniture…"

"The quiet simple life." Edea made a face. "No adventure, or people to beat up, no justice to serve!"

"Heaven knows you wouldn't ever settle for something like that," he teased.

"I like my life," she said, idling scraping her spoon in one of her bowls even though the soup was long drained. "I like what I do every day, with the people I do it with… had I grown up in Gravemark, I would never have met Agnes, or Tiz, or… you."

She looked up at him, and he found he had no response for that. Their eyes met, and he looked away.

After a moment, Edea sighed and licked her spoon. "I'll clean up. It's my turn, and it's only fair, isn't it? You go sit on the couch and I'll be there in a moment."

Ringabel obeyed, handing over his bowl to Edea when she stood to retrieve it, then making his way over to the couch. He picked up the blanket that had been left there and shook it out, then wrapped it around his shoulders and waited for her to return.

The fire crackled as he stared at it. The sounds of Edea in the kitchen cleaning up could not be drowned out.

Soon, he could hear Edea padding across the floor to him, and when he wordlessly lifted up the edge of the blanket, she took the invitation to dive down into it, pressing herself against his side. He was slowly getting used to such close contact. It was… necessary, after all. There was still a chill in the air even though they had the fire roaring. Drafts.

"Thanks for dinner," Edea said as she leaned into him. Her hand brushed against his side."It was a bit bland, though. I wish there was more that we could add to these stews."

He had to think of a diplomatic comment. "Well, they didn't exactly expect people would need to use the stock as much as we have. It was just for emergency storage. Next time, I'll be sure to bring my supply of chilli pepper powder with me."

"Oh, would you? That's that we need!"

"If _someone_ doesn't use it in their _socks_ , I would be happy to." He was still mad about that.

Edea shook her head. "Oh, Ringabel. Don't be so silly. Sometimes one has to make sacrifices." She bounced slightly in her seat, jostling him, and he found himself smiling at her energy. " But when it comes to food, those sacrifices should be minimal, you're right. Dinner could have used that extra kick."

"Really? We'll just get something strong when we leave this place and return to Eternia, how about that?" Yes, that was the solution. He continued, clearing his throat. "We could… we could even make it a… date?"

She didn't respond to him immediately. Time seemed to pass by agonizingly slowly, and he had nearly lost all nerve, ready to stand up and salvage what was left of his pride, when she finally spoke up. "I'll have to think about it. We need to get out of here first, after all."

He sighed. She had a point. He both loved and hated when she had a point. "Alright," he agreed. It wasn't a no, which was more than he could say about his last invitation. "But promise me that you'll think about it."

The woman made a noise of agreement, slightly muffled as she turned her head into his shoulder. "Later," she mumbled.

It was so warm under the blanket with her, the two of them contently snuggling together. He had a quick thought that this was almost as good as a date - almost, because his hair was down and unstyled, and he desperately needed to shave but didn't trust the razor that he'd found under the vanity in the bathroom. A date with her had to be perfect, and not the result of being stranded out in a blizzard. Ringabel shifted so that he could turn his torso more toward her, both of his arms making their way around her to hold her tight. She'd said "maybe" to a date, but hadn't protested this close contact.

In response, she yawned. "It's a little warm, don't you think?"

"We could open a window, or one of the doors," he suggested.

"Haha," she replied, and stretched with a loud yawn. "I'm going to lie in bed for a bit. Can I borrow your journal and read?"

"And then what?"

"I'll probably go to bed."

Ringabel shook his head, sighing. "We'll go to bed together, then. I'll lay - oh." No, he was exiled to the couch, wasn't he? No laying with Edea and keeping an eye on her as she went through his journal (he'd caught her making notes more than once, which was cute, but he still worried she'd go overboard). He was doomed to a cold lonely night. All by himself.

Edea gave him an exasperated look. "You don't really believe I'd make you sleep on the couch in the middle of a blizzard, do you?"

"The blizzard is over," he pointed out.

"Ringabel," she replied, emphasizing his name in the impatient way he was very familiar with. "I'd rather not wake up to a human popsicle on the couch if it's all the same to you. We'll… we'll talk about it later. When we're out of here. But for now, I'm over it if you are."

Still, he hesitated. She sighed and tilted her head at him. "How on earth could I explain to Tiz and Agnes that I let you freeze to death instead of allowing you share body heat with me? Do you know how disapproving they would be? And who would fly Grandship?"

"Oh," Ringabel replied dumbly. Right… Tiz and Agnes probably would miss him, he hoped. Tiz was awfully practical, and wouldn't see a problem with the two them sharing a bed in a blizzard. They'd all slept in Edea's big bed in the middle of Central Command, after all… both for warmth and for security, considering they'd been in the middle of enemy territory.

"Very well," he finally said, though it was to Edea's back because she had already turned away to smooth the covers of the bed. "I understand."

After they both took turns taking shortcuts to the toilet, the two of them stretched out under the covers of the large bed. Ringabel had once again lowered the fire and brought over a lamp so that she could read, pulling over a large chest to her side of bed so that she could see well. She curled up on her side facing the light, his journal open toward the beginning as she read. Wanting to keep an eye on her (and her hand, though he hadn't seen her grab a pen), he was very close behind, his legs tucked up enough that his knees brushed against hers, and her hair stretched over his arm. He reached up to touch it.

She wiggled back against him, and Ringabel inhaled sharply as her head nestled into his shoulder. Her back pressed against his chest, and one of her ankles slid between his.

"What?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him. She was frowning. "There's a draft between us."

"Right," he replied. It did feel much warmer with her against him like this. Even though they still were fully clothed (and in their day clothes, no less, for the second day in a row), he could feel her heat permeating through. He was so, so glad he hadn't slept on the couch tonight.

Wait, something was missing, wasn't it? Ringabel flailed as he tried to prop himself up on his elbow, looking around… there!

Edea's sword was leaning against the writing desk nearby. For some reason, she hadn't taken it into bed. He stared at it for a long moment, wondering why she'd left it there, and when she was going to realize her mistake and force him to fetch it.

"Settle down," Edea groused as she shifted again, and looking down, he realized he was lying on her hair.

"Sorry," he apologized, and carefully adjusted his weight so that her hair was out of the danger zone. Just as carefully, he draped an arm casually over her waist. Very casual. The most casual arm draping anyone had ever seen, even as he lowered himself back to the bed.

Edea turned another page in the journal.

Ringabel closed his eyes, scrunching up his nose as her hair brushed against it. He'd gotten a glimpse of the page she was on, and was reciting it to himself, having long since memorized the contents. She was reading the portion he'd written as Alternis, even though many of the pages had been lost when he'd fallen through the Pillar of Light and into her world. With his memories returned, he could vaguely remember what he'd written in those lost pages, and not for the first time, wondered if he should attempt to recreate them? While similar enough to Alternis's journal, there were enough differences that his friends should notice.

As he considered this to himself, going over the missing pages in his mind and what had previously been transcribed on them, Edea shuffled a bit, then closed the book with a yawn.

"Tired?" he asked. His hand flexed at her hip as he wondered what he should do with it now.

Edea passed the book over her shoulder to him, and it was just the smallest pang of regret that he lifted his hand to retrieve it. "Yeah," she said, once it was securely in his grasp. "Laying down makes me tired. All my energy is just… poof, gone!" As Ringabel rolled over to gently toss his journal on the nightstand on his side of the bed, unable to move far due to Edea pinning his right arm down, the woman leaned over to blow out the lamp. Then, she pulled the blankets up over her shoulder and clutched his free, nearly numb hand.

"I'd say it's as good a time to ever to sleep then," he replied. It seemed very dark outside - hard to tell with the windows mostly covered with snow. But it was quiet and still, and very very cozy under the blankets. Eternia did have short days, after all, and there was just so little they could do awake.

She yawned again, and he found himself yawning in return. "We could," she agreed.

Then Ringabel choked when Edea snuggled into him. Her whole body had pressed against his and -

"What?" the girl asked irritably, sitting up and turning so that she could stare at him. He took the opportunity to free his right arm, rubbing at it. "What?" she repeated, and she hit him lightly with a hand.

"Nothing," he said. This was a moment out of his dreams, and he was _ruining_ it. The light shone from behind her, casting a shadow on her features so that he could barely see them, much to his displeasure.

"Then just be lay there and be quiet, it's _cold_ ," Edea complained and she threw herself back down onto the bed, onto his aching arm, and curled up a bit on herself, not nearly as close as she had been before.

She was right, cold air entered their little nest anytime the blankets shifted, but it was very warm underneath, where their legs and torsos were. With a sigh, Ringabel decided to push his luck and wrapped his free arm around Edea's waist, pulling the two of them together. "I'll be good," he promised. "Just… move your head a little, please? My arm is going numb."

Edea wiggled down obediently and without comment, until her head rested against the juncture of his shoulder and chest, and he stretched his arm with relief, feeling pins and needles crawl through it. "Better?" the girl asked, and one of her hands moved up to touch his inner arm, poking at it.

"Much," he breathed, flexing his hand as it came back to painful life.

Edea sighed. "Then goodnight, Ringabel."

"Goodnight, Edea," he replied. It felt… odd, to sleep with her in his arms like this. No sword, no blankets, no Tiz between them. Ringabel tucked Edea's head underneath his chin as he closed his eyes and attempted to sleep, listening to the wind pick up outside. He could feel Edea's fidgets against him cease, her breathing even out, and his own begin to slow as…


	3. Day 3

The new day dawned very similarly to the previous. The sun was only just beginning to rise, the sky outside still a deep blue-red, when the bed's inhabitants stirred. **  
**

Edea woke feeling warm, a little too warm. The air outside the layer of blankets was cold, but she had gone to sleep fully dressed - more or less - and wrapped up in Ringabel's arms, as well. The result was that she could feel the sweat sticking the two of them together, and smell it too. Her nose wrinkled in distaste as she moved and felt her shirt peel off her skin.

And then, she felt something else, pressing urgently against her backside, and her cheeks flared with heat - she hadn't known she could feel even more warm, but then again, she did like to be surprised at least once a day. It kept life interesting.

This surprise was something she didn't know how to feel about, though. While her initial urge had been to punch him for this… she shouldn't let it get to her, really - for all her appearances and general attitude toward sex, she had spent enough time with men in close quarters that she had grown familiar with the concept of morning erections. It wasn't truly that big a deal; if Tiz Arrior of all people could sport one now and then, Ringabel definitely could, and had. Not to mention some of the Sky Knights she'd witnessed who had slept in too late for a cold shower, rushing to morning role call. As angry as she had been at him yesterday over the same thing when he had been staring at her, it was different in the morning, when he was asleep and as far as she knew, was experiencing something that all men did.

Still, seeing it briefly before the boys noticed and scurried away with embarrassment, and feeling it so intimately against her were two entirely different things. Edea found herself squirming, only to realize that probably wasn't helping because most of her squirming was right against the object in question. There were too many layers between him - it - and her, and she wasn't sure if it was getting harder, or she was just too aware of it now. If she shifted, she thought she could feel it move, even if Ringabel himself did not, only his chest moving slightly behind her back as he breathed.

She really needed to stop thinking about it. On a list of things she wanted to dwell on, Ringabel's penis was down near the bottom, right on the edge of the paper. But try as she might to think of something else - sword forms, freshly baked pastries, fighting monsters - her thoughts kept coming back to the pressure against her rear. His arms were too tight around her for her to flee the bed entirely, so until he woke up, she'd have to do something about it.

Shifting once more, moving back against him, Edea wedged it in the crevice of her rear. That, at least, was more comfortable than having it press distractedly elsewhere… even if the new resting place meant it was very close to her own sex, and she was feeling heat build up there, making her feel even warmer than she'd been before. A subtle throbbing sensation was starting, and she wondered if he'd be able to feel that through the layers between them… once he woke up, that was.

Listening to him breathe, snoring peacefully, probably dreaming dirty things… it made her a more than little annoyed. And then she'd had to deal with his morning wood on top of it! Edea squirmed in his arms, rocking her hips in a way that guided said wood against her, and practically elbowed him in the side. "Wake up!"

Ringabel let out a noise of discontent, clearly unhappy at a rude awakening, and the hand that clung in front of her stomach flexed. His other arm stretched, then bent so that he could touch his face.

Edea stopped her squirming, waiting with bated breath for him to wake. Oh, maybe she shouldn't call attention to the position they were in but let him notice it himself. He'd die of embarrassment!

After a few moments of the man trying to pull himself into the world of the awake and living, he let out another moan, stretching out all his limbs. The movement made his hips press against her own, and she bit her lip to stifle any noises she might make.

"Is it morning already?" he asked, words slightly slurred with sleep.

"Yes," Edea whispered, and she realized that her heart was doing something funny in her chest as she listened to him. "I'm ready to get up, but you're all… clingy."

"Mmm," he replied, not quite understanding. His brain was foggy with sleep, and his limbs were warm and heavy. He was not in any rush to go anywhere, not when she felt so nice in his arms. He squeezed her for the briefest of moments as he yawned, nuzzling into her head. Edea was both worried he'd fall back asleep, and a little bothered that he was getting all touchy, wondering if she needed to deliver a real elbowing to his soft bits, when she felt him stiffen, his grip going slack. His breath caught in his chest.

She wondered; what had he noticed first - the state of his manhood or how tightly he was holding her, as though they were a couple?

When he didn't inhale a few long seconds, Edea nearly worried that she had actually killed him, and rolled over slightly so that she could look at him over her shoulder, not noticing that way that her weight pressed into him all along the length of his torso. What she could see of his face was a deep red, that red travelling up to the tips of his ears and down his neck.

His arm unwound from her waist, and he rolled back almost as soon as she did, until he was on his back and she was no longer pressed to him. Edea continued rolling, shifting until she faced him properly now, propping herself up on her elbow. The covers covered them both below the waist.

"Sorry," he apologized, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes. "I get a little - in my sleep - I don't - "

"It's fine," she flapped her hand, enjoying the way he stuttered. "You kept me warm in the night."

Ringabel took a deep breath. "Yes…"

Edea weighed whether or not she wanted to bring up his little indiscretion. It probably wasn't kind to refer to that part of him as little, though, she knew that much. "Don't get any ideas," she settled on. "It's just because we're trapped here, and it's cold. And don't get used to it, either. It's not going to happen once we leave."

Ringabel stifled a yawn, looking a bit guilty. "Very well. I shall cherish each moment that you're with me, then." He paused. "Was there… never mind."

"Anything else?" the woman finished for him. "Well, we both kind of stink. And it's really sweaty when we're underneath the blankets, maybe a bit too much. Maybe we need only one blanket in the night; they arerather thick, after all." He made a noise, as though agreeing with her, and she felt him shift uncomfortably. Trying to hide her smile, Edea added, "And your dick got really hard against my butt."

Ringabel gaped at her, and his face, which had been recovering, turned a deep scarlet. It was fascinating to watch the color spread down his neck. "Edea!" he cried, sounding aghast as he propped himself on an elbow and half sat up. His legs crossed slightly. "That was - that was just - you know it just happens! It didn't mean anything!"

"I know," she said cheerfully. He hadn't even been awake, how could she think he was being dirty? And she'd seen both him and Tiz with awkward morning erections more than once. After laughing at them the first couple of times, there wasn't any point in mentioning it, until now.

"I'm getting up," Ringabel declared, now thoroughly awake, and she watched him fling the bedcovers aside as he slipped out of bed. The front of his pants was still bulging slightly, and Edea found her eyes following it - and him - as he stomped with bare feet over to the back door and opened it to be greeted by a wall of snow.

He took a handful and pressed it to his red face.

Edea giggled. "Are you going to shave with the snow, too?" He had stubble growing in, barely visible due to the color of his hair, but there nonetheless. It wasn't a bad look. He was young for a full beard, perhaps, but Edea always thought men should have some facial hair.

"If I wanted to die of infection," Ringabel muttered as he rubbed his handful of snow across his face. The freezing substance woke him up more thoroughly than a cup of coffee. "The razors here are rusted over. Even I am not that desperate yet."

"Oh, we have my sword," Edea pointed out, and she made to leave the bed as well, pausing to push her feet into her boots. "I could give you a shave."

"I'll consider it," he replied, edging away as she joined him at the door. Instead of taking any snow though, Edea was looking at the white, fluffy wall in front of them.

"Is it just me, or has it not gone down at all?" she asked.

Ringabel examined it more closely now, taking the opportunity of her being distracted to drop some of the remnants of the snow against the back of her neck. She shrieked and danced away from him. "I believe it has, but only just a bit. It makes sense it wouldn't melt if the sun weren't out."

She took a handful of snow to toss at him, laughing as it exploded in powder against his chest, adding spots to his shirt. His stomach was already as damp with sweat as hers felt, a testament to exactly how warm their bed was getting.

Ringabel pouted at her as he brushed the snow off. Edea used the excuse of following the path of the snow to the floor to check him out once more; the bulge was very nearly gone.

"Another day, then," he guessed. "We'll have to let the sun do her magic."

"Ugh," Edea replied, her good mood evaporating like she wished the snow would. Couldn't they just… aim a firaga out the door or something? "Then we're stuck another day together."

"You needn't sound so excited. I am thrilled, of course!"

"You would be. In any case, we have to do something about the smell - I'm not spending another day like this," she said, gesturing to herself. Her clothes were sweaty, and she felt and smelled terrible. That might be trapped, but that didn't mean they had to be filthy. Filth lead to sickness and being sick and trapped with Ringabel would be even worse.

"You want to bathe?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked her up and down.

"Is that so surprising? Unlike some people, I don't enjoy the smell of my - what was it, natural musk?"

"It was only that one time!" he protested, then cleared his throat. "The restroom has a basin you can use to wash - it'll be big enough to sit in, if you want a bath. And then I think I saw a smaller one we can use to wash our clothes, provided we find soap."

This was going to be tricky, without a change of clothes. Edea almost changed her mind, but when Ringabel passed her to go look for the basin, she got a fresh whiff of his scent and - nope. If they were going to be walled up together, he was going to smell nice, even if she had to hold him hostage in the tub at swordpoint.

Of course, if the two of them hadn't decided it would be a brilliant idea to exercise, she doubted that they'd smell quite this… ripe by now. It had seemed like a good idea at the time! She threw up her hands and followed him.

Shortly Ringabel had dragged out the smaller of the basins into the room. "How about this," he explained. "While you wash up, I'll wash your clothes and hang them to dry over the fire. And then as I wash, you do the same."

"One, I don't trust you with my clothes," she started, ignoring his protest of "Really?!","And two, our clothes are not going to dry that quickly, fire or not. Shouldn't we try to find a change of clothes or… something to wear while we wait?" She wasn't keen on the idea of being nude near him, not when she was feeling confusing things.

"Wouldn't you think we would have noticed extra clothes lying around here?" Ringabel replied, frowning. They had searched all over, after all, and while they had found some scraps of fabric, and Edea did sew, there were no needles about and he doubted she could make anything serviceable.

"Well…" Edea glanced around. "We could look some more. Come on."

She turned before he could answer, though she heard him grumble behind her as he followed her to the other side of the room. There wasn't much there they hadn't already gone through since yesterday, but Edea rummaged around anyway. There had to have been some sort of dresser or armoire for clothing, but she couldn't see one! Upon closer inspection, there were gouges in the wooden floor that hinted that something heavy may have once been standing, but was now removed… which made her scowl and glance over where Ringabel was once again going through the desk, his expression blank.

She hated it when his expression was like that, making him hard to read. Who did he think he was, Alternis?! Her frown deepened further, especially when her stomach growled suddenly. Ringabel glanced up at her, and their eyes met.

"I'm hungry," she said.

"I noticed," he replied, not unamused, and he turned away to head off the into the kitchen. She followed him and watched as he dug the pot of leftovers out of the ice box and shoved it on the stove, starting the fire with a quick spell. "We'll let it sit here while we look," he said, as he stirred the mush around.

Edea wanted food now, though. She came up on his side to take the spoon from him. "You look," she suggested. "I'll stay here." They needed some distance. Between desperately wanting to bathe and being hungry, she was feeling irritated and overstimulated, and she hated having him in close proximity. If only there were actual rooms here!

Ringabel looked sidelong at her. "Don't add anything to it!" he warned. "The taste is perfect just the way it is."

She flapped her hand at him. "There's nothing wrong with experimenting once in a while, Ringabel. Come on, it's a little bland." She watched him grab the box that contained the satchels of spices as he walked past. "Ringabel!" Didn't he trust her?!

Ringabel was on his toes as he placed the box on the very top of the armoire, far out of her reach. "I like it bland," he called across the room, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Just like your taste in women," she muttered, thinking back to his many girlfriends. The few she'd met had been… nice enough, she supposed, but more than a little bland. It explained everything.

"Wha - my taste in what, exactly?" the man asked her, staring at her with wide eyes. He hated arguing with Edea, or anyone, especially in such an enclosed area, but he thought he'd heard the tail end of her remark and wasn't sure how to feel about it. His taste in women was fine; he loved her, didn't he? Perhaps in the past he'd been attracted to some who were more beautiful on the outside than in, but…

"Nothing," she replied hastily. That had been a out of line, and without coffee, Ringabel had been known to be tetchy and argumentative in the morning, even toward the girls. She did not want to start a fight.

As she stirred breakfast, still wishing she could add in more seasoning, Ringabel continued to search in the living portion of the cabin, opening drawers and peering under the table. Finally, he disappeared into the restroom.

Probably to tidy up, Edea thought to herself. He could be so vain; the day that he didn't spend an hour in the bathroom before making an appearance to his friends would be the day she believed he was truly in love, proposals or not.

The stew was nicely warmed by the time he emerged, his hair dusty and disheveled, and his arms full. Edea briefly considered helping him before she went back to stirring. He'd be fine. Manual labor was good for him.

Ringabel deposited his findings on the kitchen table with a loud noise. "I found soap," he said, gesturing to a tiny tin bucket with one hand as he wiped his face with the back of the other, smearing dirt on his cheeks. " And a dolly to go in the other basin here. We can wash our clothes with that."

She sighed. "And…"

"And there's plenty of blankets that we can huddle under while we wait for our clothes to dry," he supplied, testing the long dolly in the tub. It clanged. "We'll make a clothesline from the rope in the supplies."

She really wanted to take a bath, really wanted to put on clean warm clothes, but the idea of huddling under a blanket while she waited for her clothes to dry wasn't ideal, especially knowing he would be in the same boat, and nearby. She'd already had a close encounter with his dick once today, she didn't exactly want another.

Ringabel approached her now, seemingly in a slightly better mood, even without his coffee. "Edea, please. I'm not sure what you think I may do, but… it'll be more efficient if I clean your clothes, and you clean mine. Less risk of us catching cold. " He looked down at her pleadingly.

Edea growled in response. She didn't have much of a choice, did she? "Don't do anything crazy!" she cried, taking out her frustration on the pot of food in front of her. It was so much easier when Tiz did the laundry, or at least when Tiz helped with the laundry, and when the Proprietress cooked for them. And another day alone with Ringabel with so very little to do sounded dreadful. Boredom and Edea did not mix well, boredom and Ringabel mixed even worse.

"I would never," he replied, sounding affronted. "I am a gentleman, after all. Besides, it's freezing. I would hardly hide your clothes from you." He gave her a pointed look. "I ask you the same, of course… don't get sneaky."

"I'm not sneaky," she mumbled, flushing. Him hiding her clothes had not been what she had thought he might do but sure, they would go with that. Maybe she was being unreasonable.

Once the leftovers were boiling hot, they ladled it out into bowls. Edea quickly noticed that Ringabel's portion was much smaller than her own, and she glared up at him, knocking his hand. Doing so jarred his bowl, and hot soup splashed over his fingers. With a hiss, Ringabel quickly set his bowl down on the counter before he dropped it.

"What?" he cried, reaching for a cloth to press against his scalded skin. "What did I do?!" He stared at her, betrayed.

"You know what you did, Ringabel!" she argued, setting her own food aside before it spilled over one or both of them. "I've already told you that I don't need you starving yourself for me - I don't need you to put food aside for me as though I'm a child. I don't want you to go hungry for my sake!" She'd seen him eat large meals in the past; he could pack it away almost as much as she could, and she had been a little hungry the past couple of days with the limited food. Nothing major, nothing that would kill her, but she didn't want him going without for her. He'd gone without enough in the past.

"I'm not," he replied, rubbing the dish towel roughly over his fingers. He reached over the sink to wet the cloth before pressing it back on his skin. "I've had plenty of smaller meals in my life, even as a Dark Knight. When trapped and with limited supplies, you have to ration yourself to make sure you have enough to last you until rescue or escape, after all. What I don't eat now, I can eat later"

She hadn't even thought of rationing and suddenly felt chastened. He had a valid point, and she hated it when he did - it reminded her that underneath his flighty, outlandish exterior, he had a good brain on him and that he could be counted on to use it when it mattered most. It was like his heart, hiding underneath the inappropriate comments he made.

Unable to find something to say to say that wouldn't continue the argument that she had no energy for, she fell silent and watched him examine his hand. It wasn't burnt, but the skin was red.

"I'm sorry," she settled on, and reached to take his hands in her own. They were just as calloused as her own, and much larger, and she whispered a quick healing spell that cleared up the redness as she traced some of his callouses on his palm with her thumb. Luckily, the healing spell did not affect those. It would be terrible if he had to regrow them all over again, considering he was a swordsman.

Ringabel pulled his hands out of hers first, surprisingly, though he moved slowly. "You've nothing to apologize for. Just be careful, please. We only packed a few potions." They had wanted to rely on magic alone for their trip, but Tiz had insisted on the potions, just in case. Luckily, sleep easily renewed the energy needed for spells, and so she had mana in abundance, so she doubted they would need to resort to the potions, but… just in case.

Now that his hands were free, Ringabel picked up his bowl again. "Let's eat and then take baths," he said.

"Okay," she found herself agreeing. She didn't want to fight with him, and didn't want to hurt him again. The sooner she bathed and got clean, the sooner she might feel better,

Their breakfast wasn't delicious, but it at least partially filled their bellies. As Edea took a small second helping for the energy boost, Ringabel set some water to boil in another large pan. His plan, he'd explained, was to put snow in the basin and then pour boiling water over it - both melting the snow and evening out the temperature. The result hopefully, with some trial and error, would be a bath that was tolerable, if not slightly too warm or too cold.

In the meantime, they needed hot water to clean their clothes, too. With all of those fires going, it was actually getting warm in the cabin, and the two of them were sweating and red-faced by the time they had finished preparing for the now even more needed baths.

To make things easier, they had dragged the wash basin behind the screen and carefully thrown blankets over it so that neither of them could see through the other side. But this way, they could talk while they bathed and cleaned, and she would be in the warmth of the main room. They had both agreed to avoid the chill of the restroom as much as possible aside from necessary visits.

Edea stood on one side of the screen, tapping her feet as she waited for Ringabel to give her the okay to undress. Now that the bath water was nicely warmed and he was boiling the last batch of water for the laundry, she just wanted to get on with it.

"Hold on," he called, and she heard the sound of water splashing into the tall basin. "And now the soap and… alright, Edea. It's ready!"

"Finally," she breathed, and started to disrobe. Her clothes she flung over the top of the screen so that they landed on the floor on the other side for him to retrieve (another advantage of bathing in the main room), including, with much reluctance, her bandeau and panties.

"Don't do anything weird," she threatened him as she heard the rustle of her clothes being picked up. She listened carefully to the sound for any shenanigans.

"So distrustful," he sniffed. "Have some faith in me, my dear!"

Grumbling a response, the grumbles faded as she slipped into slightly soapy bath water. Ahhh… Edea smiled as she settled in, wiggling slightly in the water and causing it to splash on the floor. Whoops. Oh well. They would clean up later.

Sighing loudly, she stretched her legs out slightly above the metal rim of the basin and ran her hands down her calves. Lathering some more soap onto a hand towel, she got to quick work scrubbing her legs of the layer of grime that had built up. The soap itself was harsh and smelled medicinal, but it did the job of cleaning her nicely and she continued to scrub until her skin was shiny and wet and clean, most importantly of all.

As she scrubbed, she heard the sound of Ringabel using the dolly stick to clean her clothes, the man huffing loudly as he worked to agitate the bundle of cloth to get the soap mixed in well with the dirt and sweat in the clothes. While they both knew that the end result wouldn't be as effective without letting the laundry soak for at least a few hours, at least it would be something. She closed her eyes, so that she could see him in her mind's eye. His face would be red, and he was probably rather wet, his clothes clinging to him as he was splashed with soap water, his strong arms driving the dolly in and out of the basin.

… though the water was warm, the air around her still had a chill. When she opened her eyes, she realized her nipples had stiffened painfully, which meant she needed to finish up soon and get out. Hunching over and grasping a bowl in her hands, she soaked her hair and scrubbed tiny bits of soap at the nape of her neck, where the sweatiest parts were. Not nearly as vain of her hair as the blond man, she did want to take care of it, and old body soap was not the best to use, so she would need to be careful.

Ringabel seemed to be finished, or just resting, as the sounds of the stick in the basin had ceased.

"Ringabel?" she called after she was finished rinsing her hair and didn't think she would inhale any of the sharp scented soap. Her eyes were still squeezed shut, just in case.

"Yes?" he replied distantly. "I'm letting it soak a bit before another round and the rinse. No need to worry, dear. Stay in there a bit longer."

Well, if he insisted, she wasn't going to argue with him. Carefully pulling her hair back over her shoulders so that she didn't flip water everywhere in the room, she squeezed out excess moisture and relaxed, sinking down further into the water.

He was just a few feet away, she remembered, glancing over in his direction. With the screen in the way, they could not see each other, but there was nothing preventing him from walking around the other side of the screen to peek. For such a perverted man, she almost half expected it of him; she doubted even Alternis would be able to resist! That thought made her laugh softly to herself. Alternis would never peek. He was far too much uptight to do something so indecent, not to mention afraid of incurring her wrath or something. Which in itself angered her, because that meant he avoided her most of the time. Even if she didn't hold romantic feelings for him, she would like to see the man every now and then.

"Mrgrgr," she mumbled to herself as she scrubbed at her arms again. He'd pushed himself so far away she hadn't even recognized him, after all.

"What's wrong?" Ringabel asked from the other side of the screen.

"Nothing!" she called, flushing. He could hear everything she was doing, couldn't he? Crossing her arms around her chest, she closed her eyes and forced herself to relax, thinking about the delicious food she was going to eat once they could leave. Strawberry crepes, butterscotch sticky buns, double chocolate cheesecake… a triple layer, ice cream and mousse parfait layered with fresh fruit, whipped cream, and caramel drizzle. She could already taste it, the ice cream thick in her mouth and so sweet, the fruits chewy and the caramel sticking to her teeth. She moaned happily to herself at the thought, wiggling in the tub.

There was a horrible clunking sound from the room as Ringabel dropped the washing basin, spilling wet clothes and the wash water all over. She gasped, half-rising.

"Ringabel?!"

"It's fine!" he called, his voice squeaking. "I - I tripped, is all! Stay there."

She had planned to, but he was suspicious. Now she finished washing, running the washcloth over her legs one last time before she stood, letting the warm water drip down her sides. She shivered and reached for the towel that was folded nearby, too cold to remain like this for long. Wrapping the towel securely around her torso, and draping another loosely over her head and shoulders, she glanced around the side of the divider.

Ringabel had attempted to clean up, but she could still see a mess of water and soap on the floor slowly creeping across the room. The man himself was in the kitchen, letting her clothes rinse in the water from the sink as he attempted to mop up the mess. His own clothes were already soaked from chest to toe.

"What happened?" she asked him.

"I told you, I tripped," he said. His face was red, and he glanced at her for the merest of moments before glancing back down at the mop in his hands.

"You're so clumsy," she shook her head as she decided to cross the room to him. "Here. We'll trade places. You're going to get sick if you don't heat up and dry off soon."

"I - what?" Ringabel stammered as she approached him. He gaped at her, and she was fully aware of the way his eyes swept over her form. So when she grabbed the mop, she was sure to yank it out from under him, causing him to stumble.

"You heard me," she said, brandishing the wet part of the mop against his behind, soaking that just as thoroughly as the front of his pants. "Go, get out of my way! Ringabel, you're hopeless when it comes to housework. Just like a man."

Using the mop, she shoved and pushed him over to the dividers, careful of the wet floor, and as soon as he batted the mop aside and ducked behind the screen for privacy, she went back to cleaning. What on earth had he done, she wondered as she mopped the best she could, squeezing out the extra water into the nearly empty wash basin. She was going to have to boil more water to clean his clothes that he was dropping over the side of the screen, the garments falling to the floor with a damp splat.

She sighed.

The bath had been nice and she felt clean, if not a little cold, but with this mess, her clothes hadn't been put to dry yet, and she would have to sit around waiting! And it seemed likely they would now have to wait… sitting… together… Edea threw her clothes over the impromptu clothesline they had made out of some rope and two chairs in the front of the fire, then went to retrieve his clothing to return the favor. Ringabel was splashing around in the basin as he scrubbed.

"Don't forget behind your ears," she called to him even as she bent to retrieve his clothes. Jacket, shirt, pants, socks… wait. Edea shook out his pants, confused. Then she checked his shirt. And then his jacket. The only thing there was some stray pg that she liberated for herself.

Where was Ringabel's underwear? And… why was she actually wanting to find it? Ew! Seriously though. Edea gave the screen a long, suspicious glance before she spoke. "I regret having to even ask this, but where the hell is your underwear?" She hoped he was actually wearing some here.

Ringabel cleared his throat. "I'll wash them later," he commented, casually.

Edea let out a growl of frustration. "Ringabel… Ringabel!" Why didn't he have a last name she could use against him? "Don't be difficult. You washed mine! It's not like it's anything I haven't seen before." They had all helped with laundry before. She'd washed his drawers more times than she'd like to count.

"I know, but it's - still! I'll wash them myself later. It's unladylike for you to wash a man's undergarments."

"That means you won't be wearing any under your pants later? Absolutely not!" That was pretty gross to think about. Making a face at the divider, she made up her mind.

"I'm coming around."

"Wait - what? Edea, wait - wait!" His protests could not stop her as she braced herself, half-covered her eyes with her hand, and marched around the open side of the divider.

Ringabel shrieked and covered himself, hunching over in the bath. Edea cackled at his discomfort and yanked his discarded drawers from the floor; he had left them just to the side of the tub. They were already damp from the accident earlier, and she wrapped them up in his pants so she wouldn't need to continue touching them.

Glancing down at the man who looked as if he wanted to drown himself, she nodded curtly. "I'll get started on your clothes, then."

Making sure that the towel wrapped around her was tight, she set to work on driving the dolly stick back and forth and side to side, watching the soap bubbles splash around. This was hard work. They had a little machine in the Grandship that they put their laundry in, but that one could spin just with the turn of a handle, easier but tedious - she thought she hated that but this was far worse! This required more manual labor than she had expected, and she was panting by the time the water turned a grimy gray.

Mopping her forehead with the towel over her head, she drained out as much of the water as she could, added more, then topped it off with soap crystals and decided to let it soak just as he had, throwing herself in front of the fire to warm. Her skin was dry, but her hair was still wet and she was near-naked, besides.

"I'm letting them soak," she told Ringabel, hearing him shift around in the tub as he poured water over and over - probably over his hair.

"Very well!" he answered. "I can finish up them up if you need."

"Don't tempt me." When she got back to Eternia she was going to kiss Tiz for doing their laundry most of the time. Even if they had to stay in this cabin for another month, she wasn't sure she'd repeat this.

By the time she had Ringabel's clothes finished, nicely rinsed and hanging over the line to dry, he was loudly complaining about the temperature of the water. She had made him stay until he was squeaky clean and soap free, on threat of cutting his hair with her sword.

"You're free now. Go ahead and get out of there," she snapped at him as she heard him splash around.

"It's cold," he whined.

"Get out here or I'll make you cold." What a great threat that was. Edea tugged the towel closer over her shoulders. Her clothes were still damp, but warm when she tested them.

Closing her eyes so that she didn't see anything inadvertently, she could hear Ringabel as he stood out of the water and sloshed out of it. A pause… he was probably drying down… she was trying not to imagine it, the slide of the towel of his form and - nope. After agonizing long moments, there was the rustle of fabric before his footsteps approached.

She yelped as a blanket fell over her head, flailing to pull it off so that she could breathe.

"Ringabel, what are you - "

Ringabel flopped onto the couch beside her. His hair clung to his cheeks, framing a wide smile. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, and another over his head and shoulders just like she, which meant that most of his chest and stomach were bare and glistening with water droplets. "Didn't I say earlier? We can huddle under blankets while the clothes dry. As snug as a bug in a rug."

Oh. Right, he had said that. Not the bug part, but the blanket part. She wrapped it tightly around herself, noting that he had brought his own separate blanket. Good. There was no way she was sharing anything with him when they were half naked.

Turning away from him and his shiny stomach, she stared into the fire burning in the stove nearby. Ringabel was quiet as well now, and they could hear the sound of the fire crackling. For long moments, all that filled the air was the sound of the fire and of the wind outside, the ever present wind. Glancing at their clothing drying nearby, Edea could see steam rising from the garments. Hopefully hers would be dry soon; Ringabel's thick pants and jacket would take longer, but he would survive.

She did not know how much time passed before Ringabel leaned forward, covered in his blanket from shoulder to knee, to throw another log on the fire.

"Well, my dear. Do you feel better?" he asked when he leaned back. His blanket was snug around his torso.

"I do," she admitted. Now that she was clean and very warm, the grime was gone and so was the annoyance she'd felt. Not to mention, the clean up had taken some time out of their day. It was better than sitting around doing nothing.

"I'm glad," he replied, sincerely. "If there's anything I can do to help you further, you need only let me know. I will do all in my power to grant your requests."

She gave him a look that told him he was being weird again. "We're stuck in a cabin, there's no cream to make ice cream, and no ingredients whatsoever for cake! There's little you can do." She paused, then continued. "Unless you can dry my clothes off for me?"

"I can, with time."

Edea swatted him, but she was smiling despite herself. "Okay Mr. Hotshot. Show me what you can do."

"I beg your pardon?" Ringabel asked, his eyes wide. He glanced over at the line of clothes as she waved her hand at it.

"Dry my clothing," she told him.

When he looked back at her, he was grinning now. "I said I could dry it with time. And so, give it another hour or so and it will be fine."

Edea groaned and shoved him through the blankets. Of course! "I'll hold you to it. If they're not done in an hour, you owe me."

"And if they are?" he asked. She gave him an even glare that she hoped told him that he was pressing his luck, but he only hugged his blanket tighter around him. "What do I get if I win?"

Privately, she thought it would be very likely that he won, given how thin her clothing was, and how long it had been drying by the fire. If he won, it would be because he'd cheated! "Hmm," she pretended to think for a long moment just to make him sweat. "If you win, I'll…"

"A kiss."

"What?" She stared at him, startled by how forward that was. He seemed just as surprised by what had come out of his mouth, as he sometimes did.

He hastily corrected himself, glancing away. "A date. You said you would consider one earlier, but should your clothes dry in an hour, will you please grant me a date?"

"You really don't back down, do you?" she asked, shaking her head.

"When it comes to you, no," Ringabel admitted, and he looked over, their gazes meeting. Edea's breath caught in her throat as his eyes held hers. Pale, and a rather unusual color, they showed a seriousness she wasn't sure she had seen before. She worried for a moment she might lose herself in them, and in the emotions she could see swimming in that undefinable color. What could he see in hers?

Edea looked away first, then shoved her shoulder against his. He yelped, rubbing it with his hand.

"Geez, you're so persistent," she said again, but there was no real bite to her voice as she leaned against him. Ringabel huffed slightly, but made no move to either push her way or bring her closer. "Fine," she finally decided. "If my clothes are dry in an hour, you'll take me on a date. A nice, real date to a restaurant for dinner."

He was breathless when he replied. Was that a hint of giddiness in his voice? "Of course. I'll book the reservation as soon as we're out of here."

Edea smiled, ducking her head down against his shoulder so that he couldn't see the movement of her lips. "Make sure they have a good dessert menu." She had no idea why she was telling him this, as if he had already won.

"Only the most robust dessert menus will do," he agreed, and now she could feel him leaning against her in turn. With the thick blankets between them, that was as good as it was going to get. Edea closed her eyes and began to listen to the sound of the fire again.

In this little cabin, surrounded by snow and so far removed from the world in which they had found themselves, time was impossible to tell. Edea - and Alternis - had been trained on how to track the passage of time by the way of the sun, but given that Eternia's snow clouds often hid the sun behind them, it was still spotty. Still, she kept her eyes on the shadows that moved around the room, even as they dimmed in the light. It had taken them so long to get everything for washing that they had burnt a good part of a day. Eternian days were short; this one was almost over.

Both of them were quiet as the time passed. Edea was not used to such quiet from Ringabel. Immediately, she knew that was unfair to him. Ringabel, even in the early days of their friendship, and the early days of his amnesia, could be quiet at times. It was only around pretty women that his most outlandish words came out, and that meant he often wouldn't shut up around her or Agnes. But she'd seen him spend hours piloting an airship without a word, or reading through his journal silently when they had some down time. Now, she wondered what he thought.

Oh well, he was probably thinking dirty things, knowing him. With a stretch, she stood up. "Alright, I think it's been an hour. Let's see how you did," she told him as she left the blanket on the couch and went to their 'clothesline'. With one hand still securely holding the towel in place, the other tested her clothes. Hmm.

"Well? How did I do?" he asked, tilting his head at her as she continued to examine her clothes.

"They're dry," Edea replied, running her hands over her tunic again to be sure. They were all dry, and all warm besides. Smiling while her back was turned to him, she tested his clothing while she was standing, even as she let go of her towel to gather up her clothes in her free hand. "Yours are still wet, I'm afraid. Your underwear is dry, though."

"Is it?" Ringabel's voice was odd sounding. She turned to look at him, rolling her clothes up into a ball so that she could hold them close - she'd have to go back behind the screen to dress, and wanted that warmth against her in the chilly air!

"Yeah, they're pretty thin! Your undershirt is almost dry as well, and I think you can probably wear it… what's wrong?"

His eyes had widened midway through her sentence, and she could see the panic - and the blush - spreading on his face. "Edea, your - "

Realizing what was happening at the same time that he spoke, Edea scrambled to not drop her clothing but attempt to rescue the towel that was slipping from her chest now. Curse it! She didn't have a bosom very large, and there was very little actually keeping it up aside from the edge she had tucked under… and then jostled loose as she gathered her clothing against her torso.

Throwing her clothes onto Ringabel, she grabbed the edges of the towel just as they started to slip apart, catching them before they could do more than reveal some of her thighs, which eh, that wouldn't kill her. He'd seen more of her than that before - the Bravo Bikini was more revealing than a towel, after all. Not that she wanted to run around in either.

Rolling the edge up and tucking it back under, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then burst into laughter when she looked up at Ringabel. She had not been aiming when she'd tossed her clothes on him, and they had fallen all over his frozen form. Her tunic and leggings were strewn across his lap, her undershirt had fallen over his arm, her bandeau was on his chest, and her panties had, of course, fallen onto his shoulder. She would have been angry were it not for the deep, deep scarlet that his cheeks had turned, visible even through the white cotton.

"See?" she said, teasing him. "Dry."

Ringabel jolted out of his stupor and raised one shaking hand to pluck her underwear from his shoulder. He stared at them like they might bite him at any moment as he held them out to her, pinched tightly in two fingers. "I see that," he said, his voice breaking before he cleared his throat. Then he shook his head and gave her a familiar cocky grin. "Throwing your panties down because of me now? Look how far we've progressed!"

"You haven't taken me on that date yet!" Edea growled at him as she snatched her panties from his perverted fingers. Then, she gathered up the rest of her clothing, careful of the pieces that had fallen on his lap. The blanket was too bulky to tell if he'd been affected but then, she didn't really want to know. "It's your fault it slipped in the first place." Before he could question her on that admittedly questionable logic, she continued. "I'm going to get dressed," she said, and marched off behind the screen to the sound of his laughter.

Once fully dressed, she started cleaning up the rest of their mess. The water that had splashed on the floor now was fully dry, but the tub of water remained. She tried to drag it over to the sink to dump it into the cabin's basic plumbing, but even her strength was not enough.

"I'll help," Ringabel said, startling her. He came around the screen now, dressed in -

"Ringabel," she gasped, her face growing hot as she straightened up and stared at him, trying to keep her eyes on his face… or at least his shoulders or arms or…

"You said they were dry," he pointed out, but his own face was red.

"I did," she conceded, but she hadn't meant that he could wear them! Ringabel was now clad in only his underwear. It was a sight almost more offensive than just the towel he had been wearing previously, the black fabric clinging to his hips and his thighs and his…

She looked up into his face. There was a slight, if not uneasy, smile on his face.

"I'll take one edge of the tub and you take the other," he suggested, gesturing toward the tub. She turned toward it numbly, then looked back at him and nodded.

"Nudist," she mumbled as they both took a side of the tub.

"I'm wearing underwear," he complained. "You've seen me in less."

"W-wha? When?!" She nearly dropped her side of the tub at his comment, gaping at him. She was certain she would remember when he'd been dressed in less than… that! Seeing him, or Tiz, without their shirt was nothing new, but both men were careful about at least keeping their pants on!

Ringabel shifted his grip.. "The towel, remember?"

She scoffed at him. "That hardly counts. And besides, you were covered up more than… this." Had both of her hands not been preoccupied, she would have gestured at his nearly nude form. "Aren't you cold?" Glancing at his chest, she saw his nipples were as hard as her own had been earlier. Huh. So guys got stiff in the cold too. How about his…?

No. She would not think about that.

"I'm fine," he said, as he shivered.

Together the two of them hauled the tub to the sink, and tipped it over, watching the gray water go swirling down into the pipes. Eternian pipes were made to withstand the extreme temperatures of the region, but she hoped they hadn't leaked with the years. The idea of cleaning up the mess wasn't appealing.

Ringabel nudged the tub aside with a foot and stretched. "Well, now what do we do?"

He had been aware that bathing and cleaning was just another way to pass the time. He thought about going to the door to check the snow level, but given that he was just wearing his underthings, he wasn't sure that would be a very good idea. Besides, despite some thinking he bordered on exhibitionist, he wasn't very comfortable standing around in his underwear while alone with Edea. But, given that her towel could have very led to his death at her hands, for he knew she would kill him if he saw her nude, he hadn't wanted to stay in his own towel for much longer.

Shivering slightly in the cool, he considered ducking back into his blanket, but before he could get very far, he yelped - Edea's hand had touched his arm, startling him. Goosebumps rose, making the very light blonde hair of his arms stand out. She giggled at the sensation as she stroked his skin.

"What is it?" he asked, both curious and embarrassed.

"It feels soft," she explained. "It's so light, you can't usually tell it's there." Looking up at his face, for which he was extremely grateful, her other hand reached up to stroke his cheek. At this, he closed one eye, grimacing slightly as her fingers brushed over his stubble and the ends of his hair.

"I'm awful looking," he complained, even as she continued to play with the ends of his hair. He tried to shave every day, wore makeup to cover his darkest undereye circles, and thus felt exposed to be so unkempt in her company. And his hair! Gone was his perfectly styled pompadour. Now his locks were limp, and they curled slightly at the ends, long enough to brush his shoulder. He was certain he looked terribly plain and not the sort of man she'd be even remotely interested in.

"I like your hair when it's down," she said, startling him. Her fingers slipped back to the hair at the nape of his neck, and he leaned forward - only to give her a better reach, he told himself. She continued to pet him as though he were a housecat, ruffling his hair. Smiling slightly, he let her play with his hair - she always liked to play with Agnes' - and closed his eyes as now she added her nails to his scalp. That felt good, in a very pleasant and warming way. Continuing to lean forward, he closed the distance between them, pressing his forehead to her shoulder.

Edea was tugging his hair into demented pigtails; he was very thankful that they didn't have any rubber bands on hand, as she had in the past when they were children. "Why don't you wear it down more often?" she asked.

"I have to keep up appearances," he murmured, wincing as she pulled a tuft of hair a tad too harshly. "What good am I if I don't have my looks?" Sure, he was a Dark Knight as well. He was skilled with a sword, good at tactics, a fantastic pilot, and a seducer of women the world over. He needed his looks for that last one, and it certainly didn't hurt his other skills. Besides, they had been all he had when he'd woken in Caldisla as an empty shell, aside from his journal. They had served him well.

"You're plenty good without your looks," she assured him, and now he thought she might be braiding his hair. "You're a good pilot, and you're strong, and you're not so bad when you don't prattle on like a fool."

"Women like my foolish prattling," he complained, turning his cheek into her shoulder so that he could give her a pout. "They think it's cute."

"Well, it has its uses, but I think that I like you more when you use your brain, Ringabel. It's there for a reason, and you and I both know it's not as empty anymore as you pretend it is." She glared at him, a bit annoyed, and tugged his hair.

Ringabel stared at her. "You… what?"

Edea seemed to realize that she had said and flushed now, stepping back and pushing him away in the same motion. He straightened, his back thankful for the action, and looked down at her, bewildered. He truly wished he wore more than a pair of hastily washed underwear in this moment, but didn't dare glance toward where his clothes were drying by the fire.

"You're more useful when you think, that's all," she said, and looked as though she would continue, except… now she had turned back to the stove to light it for dinner. "Ringabel, go sit down and get under something before you catch cold."

He hesitated.

Ringabel knew he should leave her to the stove and go back toward the warm blankets to wait for his pants to dry. He was certain his undershirt was finished by now. That at least would give him additional protection against the chill in the air at the edges of the cabin. But at the same time, Edea had given him more warmth in these past few moments than any number of layers could ever do. He bit his lip, then pushed his luck.

Placing a hand on her arm, he waited until she looked up at him before he spoke. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes not quite meeting his. "You keep me warm," he said. "So long as I am by your side, Edea, I will never be cold."

"That'd be more convincing if you weren't shivering," she said, but her eyes softened. "Just go."

"Will you join me? I'll be warmer with the two of us," he insisted. "You know the basics of hypothermia prevention as well as I do. Body heat is the best."

"You're not getting hypothermia," she argued, but when he gave her a pleading look, she acquiesced, turning the stove down low and setting the wooden spoon aside. "Alright, you pervert. Just until your pants dry," she said as she pushed him to the couch. He laughed at the initial shove, but he quickly choked when her hand pushed against the tender spots in his rib cage.

"Why is your skin so nice? It looks almost as good as mine." Edea grumbled once the two of them were under the blankets again. Ringabel found that in his absence, they had grown cold, and so he was huddled close to Edea even as he squirmed his undershirt back on. That was nice and toasty, at least.

"What do you mean?" he asked once his shirt was fully on again. Edea at this point leaned against his shoulder. He felt much better to be more clothed, though he wasn't sure he would ever back get to the point that he had as Alternis, feeling naked without his armor!

"I always thought you would be… I don't know, battle scarred. Covered with them, like Father, or even Master. Or Heinkel and Barras. Maybe even Barbarossa, with a peg leg."

Oh. That had never even occurred to him, though it ought to have. He lifted an arm to examine it, running his fingers against the smooth skin of his inner forearm. Neither his arms nor his legs showed the silvery-beige marks of old scars, though here and there were the faded red stripes that spoke of newer wounds that would never fully heal over. Those he had acquired on his journey with his friends, and those were not as bad as they could have been with White Magic at their disposal.

"It was the magma of Mount Karka," he said, remembering. His memories were like memories of an old play, as though he were separated from them. Even now, he remembered bits and pieces at odd times; he doubted he would ever be as whole as he had been once, those days before approaching the Holy Pillar in the world of his birth. "When I fell in the magma, I didn't die. My armor kept me alive, but at the same time, I was burned all over. I'm not sure how I survived, honestly." The pain had been horrendous, made even worse by the torture that Qada had put him through. Honestly, he was very glad that his memories of that time were still faded, but he wasn't sure how he'd survived to get Qada in the first place.

"Oh," the girl said, staring at her hands before she looked back up at him, her blue eyes earnest. "Ringabel, you don't - "

"It's alright," he assured her. "The pain is in the past. In any case, I had to regrow new skin in my weeks in the White Magic chamber. It stands to reason that this new skin wouldn't have any scars on it. And isn't that a good thing?"

"Why?"

"It means I am just that more handsome, of course!"

She smacked him. "Don't joke about that sort of thing, Ringabel. Nobody wanted you to be in such pain. Not Father, not myself, not anyone."

Qada and Victor probably didn't mind, he added quietly to himself, but he smiled warmly at her instead. "I know. And it is because of you that I was able to hold on during that time." Thinking of those that he wanted to protect, that he wanted to save had been his lifeline when all he'd wanted to do was close his eyes and let the pain fade away forever. That, and spite and the need for revenge on his enemies. Whatever had worked in the moment.

She was leaning against his side now, wonderfully warm. He shifted so that he could drag one of his pale legs up on the couch and turn toward her, draping an arm casually over her shoulder. Casually. "Because of the Edea in your world, you mean," she said softly, so quietly he almost didn't hear her at first.

But when he did, his stomach dropped. Yes, she was not wrong. The Edea of his world, that bright light in his dim life, the light that had been snuffed out so cruelly, she had been the light that kept him going. Even now, he did not wish to dwell on her terrible last moments. He did not want to think about how horribly he failed at her. With a sigh, Ringabel squeezed Edea. "She was who I thought of, yes," he admitted. "I worried for her. I wanted to fly to her side and convince her to see reason."

With a start, he realized the pitch of his voice was lowering, and he quickly raised it, forcing the usual inflection of his words through. "If I had known you at the time, I would have thought of you, of course! To fight at your side and see that beautiful smile of yours."

She pulled away from him and he could barely pout before she had turned toward him with a glare. "You are incorrigible," she told him, her chin high. "You can't love both of us."

Any pout he'd had faded. Any smile he might have flashed her died. And the feeling of happiness in his chest at having her close was dimming. "Do you truly think that?" he asked her, frowning.

Even Alternis would not plan for such a heartfelt conversation in these circumstances, he thought as Edea pressed her hands to his bare chest, almost as if to shove him. He had better timing sense than this.

Edea shook her head, looking down. "How can you claim to have feelings for me when you had her?"

He lifted his hands to wrap around her wrists, holding them gently. "Because I do." When she looked up at his face, their eyes met.

When he had known nothing else, not his name, not his age, not even his own origin, he had known that simple fact. He loved her. And while his initial infatuation may have been due to a woman he would never in his life see alive again, his heart had remembered what his mind had not, and had forged a new love.

"Edea," he said gently when she looked away. "Do you think your father loves you any less because he also loves Alternis?" The words were shock to him as he spoke - Braev did love Alternis as a son, even if he had never noticed before. Braev had been terrible at showing affection to Alternis, but Ringabel had realized on this journey that the man he had once idolized was also terrible at showing affection to his daughter.

"Of course not," Edea replied, looking at him as though he were crazy. "But he's a father; I think he's legally required to love all of his children equally, even terrible ones like Victoria."

His mother hadn't loved him, he thought before harshly squashing the thought down; this wasn't the time for that. She wasn't getting it, so he tried another angle. "Alright then, do you think that because I love Agnes - as a friend - that I can't love Tiz - AS A FRIEND - either? Love is not a finite source, dearest, and it exists in so many ways. I… I love you, too!" he practically shouted.

His cheeks were heating up, scorching even in the heat of the fire. If he had to confess his love, what better place than beside a fire, in a little cabin off in the woods, where they could not be interrupted? … if only he were wearing actual clothing, he would have liked that. He held his breath as he waited for her to respond. If he were lucky, she would throw herself on him with a cry of happiness, and then he would twirl around and the sheer joy would melt the snow outside, and then they could live happily ever after.

"As a friend?" Edea asked, and he almost despaired that she still wasn't getting it when he saw the little smile on her face, half-hidden behind her hair.

"Edea," he whined, trying not to sound too unmanly. He was fidgeting with stress now. "You know that isn't true!"

She gave him an even look. "I know," was all she said, before she looked away, her eyes distant as she thought.

Alternis levels of impatience were building in him. He bit his lip. She never liked people who were demanding, and she liked her space, and she wouldn't like him to be clingy, but he wanted to beg her to reply. Before he could die of anxiety, she spoke, staring off into the fire.

"You know, Ringabel, being stuck with you these past few days in this cabin has been a new experience," she said diplomatically.

What did that mean? He tilted his head at her. "It… has been, hasn't it?" Normally when they traveled, even if they were sharing a room in a small country inn, they shared with Agnes, Tiz, and Airy. Never before had they had they been alone in such a small space, and given that they were snowed in, each other's presence had been all they'd had. Dread suddenly gripped him. Had she hated it the entire time?

"Yes," she replied, then noticed how pale he'd gotten. "Oh, don't look like that. I'm just saying that… it was nice."

"Oh." He could breathe easy then, except she still hadn't acknowledged his heartfelt confession of love. Perhaps she truly thought he held only platonic feelings for her, as he did for Tiz and Agnes?

Edea turned to him. "You need to work on your timing," she reprimanded him. He leaned back from her accusatory finger, feeling his heart drop. "You have to give someone a way out of your confession! Don't say such things when we're locked away in a cabin and neither of us can leave."

"Oh, right," he said, as though it hadn't occurred to him. Because it hadn't. He didn't think about his feelings, and had enjoyed being so near her that he'd forgotten that they might need space. As it was, he wanted to crawl into bed and hide away from the world in his embarrassment. At least they weren't on an airship thousands of feet in the air.

She grumbled, her cheeks red and mumbled to herself, "'Oh right', he says. What use is that brain of his sometimes? Honestly!"

He pouted at her. "I can hear you." Now he really wanted to go crawl into the bed and hide. She didn't have to rub it in!

Edea looked at him sharply, then softened. "That's mean of me. I'm sorry. But Ringabel, why can't you tell me these things in a normal place?"

A… normal place? What was that? "I thought - there's no one around, and…"

"There's no one around," she repeated. "And… we've been alone for the past couple of days, sleeping in the same bed, and I've now seen more of you than I would ever like to. Tell me again when we're out."

"It won't change my feelings," he pointed out, feeling a bit put out. If this was a rejection, he wanted to get it over and done with!

"I know," she replied "But I'll feel better replying to you when we're not alone."

Feel better? He stared at her. "What's wrong?"

Edea didn't answer him at first. Instead, she looked over into the fire. After a moment, she stood and tested his pants and jacket. It was only then that she replied, her fingers running over the thick fur on his collar. "We're alone. Who knows what could happen?"

Was… that it? Ringabel stared at her, then stood and came up to her side. He reached out to touch his clothes as well, cover her hand with his own. The fur was dried, and so was the leather, but he doubted the lining was. They probably shouldn't have washed it to begin with. "Nothing has to happen. Nothing has to change," he assured her. "My feelings will stay the same."

She leaned her head back against his bare shoulder and her hair tickled his arm. "Aren't mine important, too?"

"Of course!" he replied. Her feelings were most important! When he opened his mouth to tell her this, and to insist that all would be fine, he cut himself off with a croak - Edea had turned around and wrapped her arms around him.

"So tell me again when we're out of here," the girl whispered. "But not in public, or in the middle of a fight, or when I'm eating…"

"Alright," he agreed, carefully placing his hands on her shoulders. He could do that. She clearly was uncomfortable thinking about feelings when there was nothing else to distract her, but she hadn't rejected him. He would take that for what it was worth. "I will."

Because his pants and jacket were still slightly damp, though warm, they left the fire alone so that they could finish tidying up before eating. They had left their food on the stove to stay warm, and so they only needed to turn up the heat of the fire and add more water to replace what had cooked off. Already, the short Eternian day was passing them by, but he found he didn't mind.

While he was in the kitchen, Edea went to the back door to open it, revealing snow that was at her chin height. Despite his proximity to the heat of the stove, he still shivered at the cool air that drifted over him.

"Another day and I think we'll be able to dig ourselves out," he commented. They didn't have many tools in the cabin, but they could make do or get creative with their weapons. If the snow got down to his waist, he thought they'd be fine - Edea could stay in the path he made. Too high against his chest would make it far too easy for his torso to be chilled, which could be dangerous.

"Do you think we'll survive? Or will we kill each other with cabin fever?" she asked as she shut the door and latched it.

Ringabel laughed as he added some more meat into the stew. Most of the earlier pieces had been eaten already, and he was peckish from his small breakfast. "If we haven't yet, I'm sure we'll be fine for another day. Just be gentle with me."

After dinner, where even Edea ate only one bowl of the lentil stew, Ringabel returned to his clothes and lifted them off the clothesline. "I'll leave them on the table," he explained, shaking out his jacket and turning it inside out. The lining was almost dry, but freezing, and he didn't look forward to putting it back on. His pants were dry by now, but given how they would be going to bed shortly, and it was too warm in the bed with his pants on, he was hesitant to put them on if he was just going to have to take them back off.

He could just huddle under his blanket instead, he decided as he laid his clothing out on the table. With the chair back where it belonged, there was nothing standing between the fire and the couch.

Edea was already lounging on the couch. He joined her, wrapping himself up in a blanket before hesitating for a moment. Would she accept if he offered a part of it to her…? Taking the chance, he lifted one edge of the blanket to her. "Do you want under?" he asked, smiling. Even if he was in his underthings, at least it would be warm.

She eyed him for a moment before nodding and slipping under the edge of the blanket that he offered her.

"You're warm," she said, snuggling into his side. Her arm snaked around his waist. After another moment's hesitation, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder in return.

"Of course I am. It is my passionate heart and the love I have for you that keeps me burning bright!" She hadn't rejected him, hadn't said no. His heart felt lighter for it, and the words came easily.

Edea laughed. "How do you come up with these things? Just… how? I have to admire it."

"It comes naturally," he boasted, flipping his hand. "Just like the sun shines down its beautiful light to warm our hearts, so too do I warm the hearts of women worldwide."

She squeezed his waist. "All women?"

He quickly knew what she meant, and felt a bit chastened. "All women are deserving of praise and a kind word, from the smallest girl to the oldest lady," he said evenly. "Fear not, dearest Edea. Though my words may be for others, my heart is yours alone."

"Hmm," was all she said as she laid her head against his shoulder. "You're not going to ask me to marry you, are you?"

"Do you want me to?" he asked instead of answering her.

Edea shuddered. "Please don't ask me that. I'm far too young to think about things like marriage and settling down… children and homemaking! I've too much to do for Eternia first."

"Point taken," he said, because he knew he would be at her side. As the Dark Knight of Eternia, and hopefully… well, he'd think about it later. For now, he wanted to focus on the feeling of Edea in his arms. As the night grew cold and the cabin more chilly, it made the fire all that more comforting. Turning slightly, he managed to wrap both of his arms around her and hold her tight. The girl squirmed only slightly as she found a comfortable resting place against him, and then she stilled.

His eyelids felt heavy… he was so in the habit of taking naps that his body protested being awake in the afternoon. Boredom also dug at him. Now that the excitement of bathing and drying clothing was over, there was nothing else to do. His journal seemed boring to him for once. Staring at the ceiling and counting the knots in the word seemed terribly tedious (he'd lost count at fifty three the previous day). As much as he didn't like going to bed so early, he also knew that the sooner they slept, the sooner they woke up. As a child, he had once thought he was some sort of time traveler, when he'd gone to sleep in the family library and woken up tucked in his bed the next morning. Now, he knew the fastest and easiest way to bring the new day was to just sleep. And it sounded wonderful. He kept that thought in his mind as time went by.

"I'm going to bed," he murmured into Edea's hair once the light outside had faded completely. The girl shifted, making a noise not unlike that of a very comfortable cat.

"Mm, already?" she asked, rubbing her face. "It's evening, Ringabel."

"Well, a nap at least," he decided. If he woke up in the night, which he probably would, he could drink some coffee and have some time to himself. They hadn't had any privacy in this place, and he would like some time alone. She needed it too. "You stay here and stay warm," he told her, punctuating his words with a kiss to the top of her head.

If she noticed, she said nothing. "It'll be warmer with you," Edea said after a moment, leaning back and stretching with a loud noise. "I'll take a nap as well. The bed?"

He quietly despaired before shoving that aside. While he would never turn down an opportunity to spend time with her, the thought of some time alone, with Edea asleep, had been a nice thought while he'd had it. Well, he slept less than she did. If he was lucky, she would sleep through the night without him. "Very well," he nodded, and he took the blanket with him as they relocated to the bed.

Though it was dark outside with the sun gone, they used only the light of the fire to guide them, rather than use a lamp. Ringabel spread the blanket out over the bed as Edea undressed, stripping down to her bandeau and leggings.

"It gets too warm in there," she reminded him as he stared at her, then looked away, flushing. "Keep your hands to yourself, but I'd rather not sweat through my clean clothes."

"You're right," he said, chastising himself for the desire that had spiked in him at the sight of her bare skin. They were sharing a bed for survival to begin with, and nothing more. He tried to remind himself of that again as they both slid under blankets that were still warm from their time on the couch.

Rolling over to his side to face away from her, he closed his eyes and tried to relax. Behind him, he could feel Edea rolling around until she too, was comfortable. He smiled when she murmured a good night to him, and gave his own just as quiet reply.

And then he slept.

Or at least he tried to. The arousal that had sparked in him at the sight of Edea's bare shoulders and arms wasn't abating. It was the opposite, in fact, his dick hardening in his drawers as he listened to the sound of the woman's breathing. This was why he desperately needed some time alone. Shifting uncomfortably, he crossed his arms in front of him, then let one of his hands wander down until he could touch himself through the cotton fabric. He prayed Edea wouldn't notice the covers moving.

When he ghosted his fingers along his clothed shaft, he had to bit his lip to keep from gasping. It felt good, wonderfully so, and he knew most of that pleasure was simply because he had neglected himself for some days now. After yesterday's disastrous incident, his body was owed some relief.

But even he had morals, as desperate as he felt right now. Edea was just inches away, under the same blanket, and - he couldn't do this with her so close. He needed to either stop or go to the bathroom.

… bathroom it was.

Quietly, so as to not disturb her, Ringabel shifted under the blankets once more - than yelped as Edea's arm wrapped around him from behind.

"E-Edea?!" he gasped, feeling a chill followed quickly by a rush of heat run through his entire body. "What are you doing?" His voice was squeaking as he squirmed. Edea latched onto him tighter, growling out her disapproval that he was so wiggly. He was sure that his blood pressure was rising in conjunction with something else.

"It'll be too hot later," the woman complained. "But I'm cold now. Stay still, Ringabel. You're the right level of warm."

His pulse was hammering so hard that he wondered if she could feel it. Surely she could feel the heat that was spreading down his neck - well, she had said that he was warm, after all. Trying not to whine as Edea pressed to his back, her cheek nudging his shoulder, he tried to calm himself down. The pounding of his heart as it was wasn't helping the situation in his drawers. Neither was the feeling of the woman's breasts squeezing against him; he shifted slightly onto his belly.

It should have been a laughable situation. She was so much smaller than he that he imagined to an onlooker, it would have seen bizarre to say the least. Edea was not a very effective big spoon, her legs fitting awkwardly against his own, and her arms just a little too short to fit all the way around his torso. He tried not to whine as she noticed and practically crawled up on his form so their heads could be level, her knees hitting the back of his thighs.

"Wouldn't… this work better the other way around?" he gasped as, when she grasped his shirt for better leverage, her nails scratched his chest through the thin fabric. No, wait! What was he thinking, suggesting cradling her when his cock was stiffening at the sensation of her body against his?! Traitorous thing, it clearly had something out for him!

"Yeah right," she muttered into his ear. "Tomorrow morning, I'll just have to deal with you know what again."

"Noooo," he wailed under his breath. It was true; she would have to deal with it much sooner if he spooned her. Then he yelped again, because she put her elbow right on his hair.

"Whatever you say," she replied flippantly as she lifted a hand up to pull her own hair away from her neck. "No offense Ringabel. It's just… you know."

"None taken," he murmured as he contemplated rolling over onto his stomach. Surely that would be safest. But before he could, Edea's arm had once again latched around his stomach and the girl was getting a grip.

And if there was anything he knew about Edea, it was that she had a strong one.

"Mmm, better," she said as she wiggled against his back. He sighed. She was soft and warm against his back, the same way she had felt that very morning. And now, just like then, he wanted to hold her closer, if it weren't for a certain part of him that would get between them.

Edea hummed as she settled down for sleep. "Alright, you go to sleep now," she decided, nodding against his hair. He lifted his hands to touch her arm.

He would have liked to, truly, except even when he closed his eyes and attempted to will himself to bed, his body ached with need. His manhood was positively pulsing with Edea's form so close by, and it was more than a little distracting, despite how often he thought about Qada parading around in a bikini. After several long, long moments of lying there in agony, he squirmed.

"I need to use the… the powder room," he whispered. Was Edea even awake?

Judging by the annoyed huff against his hair… yes. "Why didn't you go before we got in bed?" she grumbled. "I'm already warm. Just… go to bed. You can go later."

He wanted to whine. And so he did, squirming even more. "Edeaaaa, I really need to go."

Instead of freeing him, she slung a leg over his hip. He whimpered and resisted the urge to roll over to press his hips against the mattress. She was dangerously close to his hardness. "You'll just make it all cold," she complained as she started wiggling. "And then we'll have to get comfy again, and…! Oh!"

Edea, in her wiggling and annoyance, meant to slap his leg. She had missed, as he had started to roll back to complain and push at her. Her palm had smacked against the side of his hardness instead. Ringabel gasped at the sensation, a confusing combination of pain and pleasure coursing through him. He bit his lip.

There was deafening silence for a moment.

"That wasn't your leg, was it?" Edea asked.

"No," Ringabel managed to croak, feeling his pulse hammer in his chest. She was going to kill him, even if she had not taken her sword to bed. He was certain she could summon it to her side using the sheer force of her will.

Edea shoved his shoulder and started the process of untangling their limbs. "You're a pervert!"

"I am not," he insisted, wanting to crawl into the cellar and die. Actually, spending the night there sounded splendid; he would be too cold to get hard even if he survived the night. He managed to get his feet out of the blankets. "It just does this on its own."

"You're not asleep," she pointed out. "It's in your control. Pervert."

He stopped wriggling out from under the thick bedcovers, confusion overtaking mortification for a moment. "No," he replied, when he thought he could. The urge to defend himself was stronger than self-preservation. "Even when I wake up, it just - it has a mind of its own, truly! Do you honestly think I would choose to be like… this when I'm lying next to you?" He gestured his hand downward, vaguely in the direction of the object in question. He had morals! And fear. He had been terrified of Edea finding out about it - like she just had - and deciding to do something awful to that very sensitive part of him. He liked his penis, and wanted to keep it intact for his future children.

"Yes," she replied without hesitation as she finally slid over to the other side, propping herself up on an elbow. Now that they were separated, he could sit up on the edge of the bed and look at her. "Why not?"

"Why… not?" he echoed. His ears and cheeks were both burning. He needed to throw himself out the back door to cool off. "It hurts, for one. Even when you don't hit it."

Her expression shifted ever so slightly. "You deserved it. But hurts?"

"Not - not like a wound, or when I'm using my asterisk," he clarified, watching her eyebrows snap together when he mentioned the Dark Knight Asterisk. Something told him that they would be having a conversation about that little confession later. "It just… "

"Hurts."

"Listen, Edea," he pleaded. "Please, allow me to use the restroom. By the time I return, it won't matter anymore. We'll sleep."

"Oh, that's why you wanted to go. To do what guys do in their alone time." Despite her flippant words, she ducked her head down to her chest as red bloomed across her face.

"How do you know about that?" he demanded, heat rising in his cheeks. Who had told his Angel about what men did with their manhoods when alone?! He would find them, and he would make them pay.

Edea lifted her head just so she could roll her eyes at him. "It's not some state secret, Ringabel. Everyone knows about it. Well… if it hurts, hurry up. You're getting cold air in the bed."

"I…" He was still hard, despite exposure to the cold air, and if he took care of himself now, it may even help him sleep. "Fine," he decided. Since she had given him permission. Given him permission, like he needed it!

He hurried away across the room to the restroom door, both because it was cold, but also because he was aware that her eyes were on him and on the bulge in the front of his drawers, highly visible even in the dim light now that their eyes had adjusted and the fabric covering it was so thin.

As soon as the door was closed firmly behind him, he leaned against the cool wood and wasted no time in shoving the waistband of his drawers down his hips only enough so that his half-hard erection eagerly sprung out.

"Traitor," Ringabel muttered to it even as he took himself firmly in hand. At least they had both survived this ordeal, he thought. He had been worried they would be parted for good for a moment there. With quick, light strokes, he built himself up to full hardness, biting his lip as pleasure began to coil in him. Heat was building in his core, along with his cheeks, as he recalled that Edea was just on the other side of the old wood, and would hear him if he was too loud. Edea…

He closed his eyes and remembered the feeling of her soft breasts against his back; he squeezed his cock at the memory. She was so petite, but had still felt good, and he thought he'd felt her nipples through the fabric of her bandeau, stiff from the cold perhaps? As his hand increased in pace, his mind wandered back to what he'd heard when he had been washing her clothes. He had almost missed it; Edea moaning while in the bath. What had she truly been doing? Now, like then, he immediately imagined her touching herself, her fingers sliding over that creamy skin he ached to touch. His breath quickened at the image in his mind, his tongue ghosting over dried lips as he sped up his strokes. The touch around his cock was dry, but hot, and there was just the right amount of friction to add to his pleasure, not take away from it.

But then, he was suspecting he didn't mind the pain at all. When Edea had slapped his cock, he'd felt a burst of heat and pleasure in his shaft, along with the pain. He hadn't minded it. He almost wanted to feel it again. Almost, because his cock was aching for release now, and he twisted his wrist, tightened his grip as he continued to jerk himself. It was fine now; precome oozing from the top and helping to lubricate his pumping motions. He hadn't touched himself in days. He needed this.

He managed to swallow back the moan that burst from deep in his chest, holding his breath as he finally hit his climax, leaning back against the door for stability. His come shot out of him in spurts, hastily caught in his free hand as he milked himself of his release. That was more like it, he thought as he felt a familiar, comforting haze spread through him, warming him despite the chill in the air. The post orgasmic feeling would make it easier to sleep now.

He used a damp wash cloth to clean both his spent dick and his hands, then tucked himself back into his drawers before washing his hands more thoroughly. Only once he was sure he was clean and no trace remained that he would take back to bed, he slipped out of the tiny room. Edea was an unmoving lump on the bed just a few steps away, her blonde hair strewn across …

She'd stolen all the blankets, including the one they used as a pillow. Only the tiniest sliver of edge was available for him.

Despite himself he smiled as he crossed the distance to the bed. Tugging the covers up only enough to get underneath, he attempted to crawl back in, tugging at the edge to cover himself.

"I hope you washed your hands," Edea murmured, though she didn't roll over to face him.

"Of course I did," he insisted, flushing. He hadn't expected her to be awake… and did not expect her to move back over into his space, the girl rolling to sling an arm around his waist and draping the blankets over him along with her arm.

"Good," she replied, her eyes still closed. "Now gimme that cookie there…"

"What cookie?"

"There," Edea insisted, frowning in her half-sleeping state. "I want that one. It's chocolate chip."

She was adorable, he thought fondly to himself. Hoping she wouldn't open her eyes to the silly grin on his face - and banishing all dirty thoughts from his mind - he gave her the edge of a blanket to chew on. Snuggling into his shoulder, she chewed noisily even as she dropped into heavier sleep. Ringabel wrapped a cautious arm around her as he held her close, feeling her form shift against his. His earlier contentment was still present, and he felt himself dropping off quickly, surrounded by warmth.

* * *

Things are getting a bit heated. Get it? Heated?!

Thank you for those who have left comments. :) This chapter is perhaps a biiiiit heavy for its rating, and the next chapter is going to be even more so, so I'm likely going to switch to an M rating. If you want updates, be sure to follow it!


	4. Day 4

Hours later, Ringabel jerked awake to heat in his stomach and a weight across his chest. His hips bucked in response to the tightness of his drawers and he opened one eye to figure out what he was under and _why_ his temple and ear were disgustingly wet. Was the ceiling leaking? That was the last thing they … he gasped.

Edea's hair draped across his face, tickling his nose and cheeks. Her mouth was wet and against his ear as she half-suckled, half-nibbled on it, murmuring in her sleep.

He groaned, not out of pleasure, but because he knew she had to be dreaming of delectable desserts, and any moment now she would bite him. Not a way to start his morning! He squirmed, trying to push her off.

In response, her tongue curled around his earring and tugged. Now, a sensation of both pleasure and worry fluttered through him. If Edea got his earring off, she could easily choke on it. And then he would lose it, and he would rather not that, not even for her. Not to mention it was dangerous for her.

"Edea," he mumbled quietly, tilting his head away from her ear. She growled slightly under her breath and wriggled against him, her thigh pressing uncomfortably close to certain parts of his body. "Edea, dear. It's time to wake up."

That part, he wasn't sure about, because the cabin was still dark and what he could see of the sky outside was still a deep blue. But it was time for _her_ to wake up, at least.

"Mmm…Ringabel ," she murmured, her hands grasping at his chest and nearly tugging his shirt off. Panic blanked his mind for a moment. "I'm hungry."

He pushed at her arms, trying to wiggle out from under her in the same motion. Was this his punishment for reminding her of rations? She was going to eat him alive, as he had always feared. He was too young to die in such a gruesome way, languishing in Edea's belly.

Edea groaned, her eyes squinching in her sleep. "No, not that. I want ice cream." She growled, then went limp above him. Ringabel managed to slip a leg between hers and got enough leverage that he could roll them over, trapping the girl against the bed. He wasn't sure what she was thinking, or dreaming, but he needed a way to wake her up that wasn't going to get him killed or worse, eaten.

She was quiet now though, and he cautiously relaxed his grip on her, leaning back on his heels. He was fully awake now, and doubted he would be able to get back to sleep, not with Edea still completely out to the world. Who knew what she might do to him?!

As he bit his lip, wondering if she would mind terribly if he slept on the couch, she stirred underneath him.

"Ringabel," she breathed, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Y-yes?" he said, still unsure as to whether she was - oh, who was he kidding. She was asleep, because otherwise she would have punched him for looming over her prone form in such a way.

"M' cold," she mumbled, curling into herself. "Hungry."

He took a deep breath, then grabbed her by the shoulders and rolled her over to her stomach. She went easily enough, grasping at the blankets and mouing softly. "Here you are, dear... a… a giant crepe," he told her. That sounded about right. Crepes had long sheets of dough, yes? He'd seen the girls devour them enough that he should know. "Isn't it delicious? Hold it tight, now!"

He could just barely see the adorable little smile on her face. "Mmhmm," she mumbled, and nibbled at the edge of the blanket that they used as a pillow.

Once she was facing away from him, he felt a little more safe to curl up behind her, wrapping his arms securely around her form, and trapping her arms against her chest. She squirmed against him, clearly not happy by the restriction, but he held fast, hooking one of his legs over hers. After a few tense moments, she settled down, resigned to her fate. He resigned himself to his own, though he wondered what her dream was like for her to accept it.

She settled back against him, sighing as she went back to sleep, sans any sort of food. Still, despite the stillness of the woman in his arms, Ringabel's mind was racing. Now that he was very thoroughly awake, he could not be going back to sleep anytime soon… risk her waking up and crawling on him again? No!

Not to mention a certain part of him had also awoken when Edea had crawled over him, and it didn't seem keen to let him relax. He couldn't let down his guard in regards to it, or to the girl who had once again begun to squirm slightly in his arms, reaching out for a pastry just out of reach.

He sighed, and buried his face into Edea's hair. It was going to be a long, long night.

Years passed, or they felt like it, and finally light began to shine through the windows. Ringabel yawned again, wondering when Edea would wake so that he could take a nap. He didn't dare rest while she was asleep, not if she was going to try and eat him again.

His eyes felt so heavy and painful. Normally when he was staying awake overnight to fly, or to work on other things, he had thoughts to occupy his mind. Happy thoughts, either of his current project or of his favorite subject - girls. Pretty girls in bikinis or short skirts. Except, that was not something he could think about now; it would only make his current situation worse. Instead, he'd taken to thinking about past sparring sessions he'd had with Tiz, or Barras, or even Kamiizumi, when he had been newly initiated into the army. Anything that would keep him awake without exciting him any further.

Edea had been still for quite some time now. She had ceased wriggling around, but he wasn't taking any chances, not when she still occasionally called out for cake or ice cream, naming flavors he hadn't even been aware existed.

When he felt her stir again, he prepared for the worst, tightening his grip around her. She'd tried to suplex him out of the bed just a couple of hours ago, and now he wasn't going to take any chances.

"Mmm," Edea said, lifting a hand to touch his arm. "What are you doing, Ringabel?" She sounded as stern as ever, if not sleepy.

He let her go, just slightly, though he kept his arm around her waist. Just in case.

"Good morning," he said, grimacing at the roughness in his voice. Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" She'd better have. At least one of them needed a good night's sleep.

"I had some really weird dreams," she replied slowly, the sleepiness still present in her voice. "They were nice, though."

They were still very close, close enough that he could feel her arm now moving up so that she could rub her eye. He watched her for a long moment, but when she shifted against him, he startled out of his sleepy-daze.

"Tell me about them," he offered, trying to stifle a yawn.

To his surprise, Edea rolled over, grumbling a little. "Wasn't I the big spoon last night?" she asked, even as she settled down again on her side, facing him. His arm, already rather numb from Edea laying on it all night, tingled with pain as it awoke slightly, only to be harshly squashed down when she nestled her head against his shoulder.

Ringabel had to swallow thickly before he could reply, even as he wondered if she could feel the pounding of his heart in his throat. "Were you really? I don't recall."

"Mmm."

"Your dream," he said again, hoping to distract her from anything going on below his belt. She was so warm and so soft, and she was now slinging an arm around his waist so that she could press against him, and he could feel her…

"I was on Candy Mountain in Ice Cream Land," she said dreamily. He inhaled sharply, not because of her words, but because she was tracing a finger in patterns against his hip. He tried to focus on it, to figure out what it was, rather than think about the growing tightness in his pants.

"Candy Mountain?" he managed to squeak out. "Then… then what happened?"

She nestled her head against his shoulder. "Then in the distance I saw the most beautiful sight. A mountain taller than even Eternia's mountains, covered with scoops of ice cream, and whipped cream, and chocolate drizzle! So of course, I had to check it out."

"Of course."

Her hand was now edging closer to his leg. He tried not to squirm or alert her to anything going on down there.

"Of course! So I did, you know. I flew - yes flew - across to the ice cream mountains and started to eat them. It was so good and tasty, though a little weird. And then, just as I was finished up with one mountain, I tried to go to the next and - a crepe fell on me."

"A crepe?" he asked, his voice cracking. "Interesting!"

"Yes," she replied, sighing. She stopped tracing patterns on his leg and he sighed softly in relief, biting his lip as her hand trailed back up to his hip. "A crepe… at first I thought it was also for dessert, but when I tried to eat it, it wrapped me up and told me that for crimes against ice cream-anity, I would be imprisoned. I was trapped next to Ice Cream Mountain and couldn't escape at all."

And that had been when he'd made her settle down for the night. "I'm sorry. That sounds horrendous."

"It was," she said, and yawned. "No matter what I did… I couldn't reach it. Grr, Ringabel you need to take me out for ice cream on our date."

Despite his tiredness, and the awkwardness that he felt, he smiled. She remembered the date and even wanted it?! "Of course," he assured her. "Ice cream it - " Ringabel shrieked as Edea's hand moved to grasp him between the legs and _squeezed_. " _EDEA_!" he gasped, shoving her hand away.

"Sorry," she said, though she didn't sound sorry in the least. "It's just - I remember that the crepe was kind of … well, I thought maybe there were nuts in the dough, because I kept feeling something hard. It looks like it was another sort of -"

"Well," he cut her off, flushing. "I'm not ice cream, but apparently you thought it was good enough."

Edea propped herself up on an elbow to look at him in the face. Their eyes met, and she must have seen something in them, because she started cackling. He slid his gaze over to the window. "Did I really?" the girl laughed. "That explains so much! No wonder the crepe betrayed me."

"The crepe," he hissed, "was trying to get your mouth off his ear."

"You don't like it? I thought people liked that."

"How do you - no wait, that's besides the point," he said, feeling entirely flustered that she knew about that sort of thing, and that she was saying it so casually when she she was still so close, lying beside him. The sleep gone from her eyes, she peered over at him curiously. Despite his lack of sleep, adrenaline was fueling him and his heart was pounding. "You were asleep. I would never do anything."

Edea cocked her head at him. "... now that I'm awake?"

Ringabel was now not entirely sure that he was awake, because surely this was a dream. First Edea had - had manhandled him, and now she was suggesting that… that…

Maybe Edea was the one who was still asleep. He stared at her. "Go back to bed, Edea." When her eyebrows raised, he continued. "You're clearly sleepwalking. Talking. Whatever."

"Okay," she said, and he was sure that it was a trap, because Edea never agreed to do something so readily.

And he would be right, because instead of rolling over and shutting her eyes like a good girl, Edea wiggled down until she could lay her head against his chest, her arm wrapping loosely around his waist. Her breasts pressed against his stomach.

Ringabel lifted an arm, hovering his hand above her shoulder. "What are you doing?" he asked her, curious and afraid. His erection was now very close to her stomach, and he was certain she could feel it.

"What's it like?" she asked him.

"What… what is what like?" He wasn't sure wanted to know.

"Your nuts." When he sputtered, she clarified. "Well, not exactly those, Ringabel. It's just… this is the third morning I've woken up to it, and… I know it's normal for men, but isn't three times a little excessive? Unless it's always like that. Does it hurt right now?"

"It's not - it's fine, and - it doesn't normally do this," he answered his face feeling hot and tight. He was _not_ having a conversation about this with Edea. With a groan, he leaned his head back, lifting and a hand so that he could run his fingers through his hair. "It's just because of you."

When she didn't reply immediately, he thought back to his statement and felt his heart jump.

"Edea," he said hurriedly, to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Because of me," she said, voice flat.

"You… are so close! And so squirmy, and - actually, forget I said anything. Edea, could you be a dear and cast a Sleep spell on me? I think I'd like to be unconscious for a while."

She laughed at that, and he gulped as her chest bounced against his form with her giggles. "You're so silly, Ringabel. You probably don't want to be asleep for this."

"Are you certain? Perhaps we could both get some more sleep, and…" he trailed off as her hand moved again, this time slowly, as though testing him. He wasn't sure what he was being tested on, but he kept still, though his fingers twitched. When he felt the very tips of her fingertips brush against his clothed erection, he managed to stifle his groan by biting his lip, very hard.

"I thought you took care of it before bed," she was saying.

He had to unbite his lip to reply. "I did. It came back. They do that."

"Oh," Edea said, and she shifted slightly. "Why does it do that?"

"Why don't you ask it?" he suggested, not without a hint of sarcasm. "It has certainly nothing to do with a young woman sucking my ear and squirming against it."

"Fine," she replied, with no hint of sarcasm, and he panicked for a moment before her fingers slipped into the waistband of his drawers and his heart nearly stopped. He reached over her shoulder to grab her wrist, but she'd already touched him, her finger and palms brushing against his half-hard flesh. "What?"

"You shouldn't," he breathed, but it was very hard to get the words out because his body had now gotten a feel for her calloused fingers against his length, and it wanted more. He ached. "Edea, I'll take care of it, so - "

"I'll take care of it," she told him, and she shifted enough so that he could look at her face. It was red, but her eyes were resolute. "I have nothing else to do, Ringabel. You have to admit it."

"Nooo," he tried to protest, wanting to throw himself out of bed. "You shouldn't."

"Ringabel," she replied, rolling her eyes. "We have nothing else to do. I've already touched it - more than once, I might add. You might as well."

"... are you certain?" he asked her again, because she was right, there was very little to do, and if she wanted to - if she really wanted to handle him, he wasn't sure he could say no. It was taking all of his self control not to lift his hips up into her touch. Things were moving quickly and he was a little confused, but he could appreciate the pleasurable feelings from her hand all the same.

"I'm sure, I think. I mean… it's a little weird, but it's you. I think I'll manage." She bit her lip. "Just don't tell anyone, or I'll deny it ever happened."

"I won't," he promised, suddenly feeling eager at the very prospect of what she was suggesting. Never in his most wildest dreams had she been so… wait, _was_ he dreaming? As Edea shifted so that she could drape over his stomach, he lifted an arm and pinched himself.

Ow! Not a dream.

Well then. Ringabel focused on the task at hand, grasping Edea's thighs tightly. As the two of them began to explore each other, the heat between them built to a crescendo.

Ringabel fell asleep first, followed quickly by Edea, nestling her head onto his thighs. She opened her eyes to the sound of snoring.

For a few moments, she didn't remember why she was laying on her belly of Ringabel. But when she lifted her head and realized where she was, the memories - and the warmth - rushed back to her.

Lifting herself slightly so that she could twist around to look at him, she could see Ringabel was… asleep, his head turned slightly to the side as he snored under her. His arms were lax around her form, and it was easy enough for her to lift herself on her knees and move off of him so that she could see him entirely.

He must have been exhausted, because he didn't make any motion of waking, even when she sat up on the bed next to him, his snoring continuing.

Edea looked him over, and her tummy fluttered as she took in the sight of him lying exposed. Then she shivered. It was cold, and she was damp, and her source of warmth was asleep. What had they done before had been… Edea pressed her hands into her hot cheeks. There was no going back to the previous way they had shared body heat, was there? Now…

She needed to clean and get warm. Get warm in a way that didn't involve waking Ringabel up to see what else they could do together.

Still, Edea wasn't cruel enough to leave Ringabel lying exposed to the winter air. As she left the bed, she dragged the blanket back over him, so that at least he would be covered. It was only then that she attempted to find her leggings, though she discarded them in favor of just her panties. Seriously… they had just done laundry yesterday. She wasn't about to soil them again.

It would be cold, but… once Ringabel woke, they could get warm again. She stole a glance to the sleeping man when she emerged from the bathroom, still a little wet but much more clean than she had been previously.

She could get back in bed with him, but… first, breakfast.

Ringabel slowly woke, vaguely aware of a soreness in his thighs and a tightness in his face. Groaning, he rolled over to his side. His eyes still felt a little sore from his overall lack of sleep the night before, but better than they had before the nap… before the nap. When he and Edea had… had…

That hadn't been a dream.

His eyes flew open and he tried not to cringe as bright light assaulted his senses. Lifting up the blanket, he could see that his entire bottom half was bare and… Edea was not in the bed with him.

Leaning back, his chest hitched as he tried to control his breathing. Panic welled in him for the briefest of moments before he forced it down. There were plenty of reasons Edea wouldn't be in bed with him after they'd had… whatever is they'd had.

The cabin was quiet, but that meant nothing… did it?

"Edea?" he tried, but despite what they'd done, or perhaps because of it, his throat was dry. He cleared it and tried again, raising his voice. "Edea?"

"Ringabel?" she answered, her voice thick, from somewhere around the fire. He couldn't see her with the blankets over the screen, but he could hear the sound of her getting up and walking over. "You're awake?"

"Yes," he said slowly, bracing himself for the sight of her. Would she be angry? Or… he took a deep breath as she rounded the edge of the screen. Her hair was tousled, and her cheeks were pink. With embarrassment or something else, he wasn't sure. But she wore only her top and her panties, revealing her pale legs and arms to him.

"... Aren't you cold?" he asked.

Edea sighed, but he could see a smile on her lips. "I've been under a blanket by the fire. I didn't want to get my leggings too dirty…" she said, trailing off as she looked him over. "You should clean up and join me. I made breakfast."

He ran a hand over his face, noting how dirty it felt. Of course it was dirty, he'd had it buried in her just a little while ago. He could still taste her. "How long was I asleep?"

Edea shrugged. "A few hours? After breakfast, I took a nap of my own on the couch. You didn't miss much."

His hair was stuck to his face. He was positive he looked terrible, and he felt terrible as well. "I'll clean up," he said, slinging the covers aside and rolling to the side of the bed. A part of him wanted to stay in bed and perhaps sleep a bit more, but another part was too afraid that he was dreaming, and if he stayed in bed he would only wake up.

He didn't miss the way that Edea's eyes swept over his form. Torn between the instinct to make some inappropriate remark, and the need for some privacy, he settled on. "I believe I already ate breakfast, though."

Ringabel would be satisfied with the seconds it took for her to understand, and the way that her face flushed. "Pervert," she said, but there was no real bite in the word as she turned away from him. "I'll be on the couch."

He found his pants on the floor and took them with him to the restroom, cleaning up as quickly as he could with dusty, cold water. Scrubbing at his face until he was certain all of the residue was gone, he looked in his reflection, warped from the aged and pitted mirror.

"I just slept with Edea Lee," he said, and his reflection's cheeks were red. Even if it weren't technically true, saying the words out loud made it all seem so… real. Best of all, she wasn't mad at him!

Smoothing his newly-damped hair off his forehead and over the top of his hair, he winked at his reflection. "I just slept with Edea Lee and she loved it," he amended, even if that weren't technically true either. But it made warmth spread from his face to his chest all the same, and it went even further down.

He dressed quickly, _famished_ , and any thoughts of trying to seduce Edea further were secondary to the idea of eating, his stomach decided for him. Maybe food would help, though. She was always seduced by a good meal.

He took a few moments to compose himself, to think of all the sharp one-liners and pick up lines that he had in his repertoire since undertaking the journey with his friends. But none of them had been for a situation like this, and all of them fled his head when he opened the door and saw her huddling on the couch in front of the fire, waiting for him.

"What did you make?" he asked instead, emerging from the restroom. It was cold in there, but the main cabin was notably warmer, especially in the kitchen and the area surrounding the fire. He rubbed his arms.

"Some beef stew," she said, leaning over the back of the couch to look at him as he puttered around the kitchen. "I found more potatoes and jerky."

It was… delicious, especially for her cooking. It warmed him from head to toe, and after swallowing a few spoonfuls standing, he took the bowl back to the couch. Edea moved over so that he could sit, draping the free end of the blanket that she had huddled under over him. This made him sit so so close that their thighs touched.

"I checked the snow level while you were asleep," she told him casually, watching him eat. "It's still really high. Maybe about to your shoulder. Maybe… we'll need to stay another night."

He had to finish chewing a mouthful of potatoes before he could reply. "Do you want to stay another night?" Considering what happened just that morning...

"Do I have a choice?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes," he replied, brows furrowing. "If you truly want out, we could find a way. Shoulder height isn't too terribly high. You can always stay behind me while I dig us out." He didn't relish the idea, because with the snow that high it could be difficult, but…

Edea shook her head. "No, we'll stay another night. It's safer that way. And I don't mind… if it's with you."

He went quiet, and turned his attention back to his bowl, stirring it around. Either she hadn't found more spices with the potatoes or she had been conservative with them, because he hadn't tasted anything too off about the stew. If anything, it was bland for her usual tastes.

"We'll be able to stay warm a few more nights, won't we?" she asked, and when he looked up at her, she was looking into the fire, her face unreadable. "Together."

He looked her over. "Do you want to talk about earlier?" he asked, feeling something like dread creep up on him. The room felt cold, suddenly.

Edea glanced over. "No, not really," she said, and bit her lip. When she saw the look on his face, she hastened to clarify. "Not that I regret it! We did keep warm, after all. It's just… weird."

"Weird," he repeated. She fell silent, and after a few long minutes he went back to finishing up the stew. Though he was losing his appetite, he wasn't going to waste it, not when their supplies were stretched thin as it was, and not when Edea had lovingly made it for him. Besides, he needed to keep his energy if he was to dry and dig them out.

The two of them sat in silence as they ate. Ringabel dragged it out as long as he could, stirring his stew carefully and thinking about what he was going to say to her… how he was going to try and salvage their existing relationship. He loved her, even before this had happened, and as long as he could be beside her, he would be happy.

Finishing up his stew, he set the bowl aside on the floor, then turned to her to explain himself, only for Edea to speak up first.

"I mean, you have to admit it was a little weird."

"What was weird about it?" he asked her, trying not to frown. This conversation was beginning to get to him. Had she hated it that much? Did she hate him now?

Edea sighed. "Do all dicks look like that?"

… that had not been the response he'd been expecting. He gaped at her. "What?"

"I had a pretty good look at it, you know! I keep thinking about it." She bit her lip.

Now was absolutely not the moment for a slick reply, and he wasn't sure he could form one with the way his mouth felt dry. He licked his lips instead, as his mind raced for an answer. "You don't need to feel ashamed," he started, his stomach heavy as he reached out for her. "We were caught up in the moment, and…"

"It's not that," she cut in, stopping him. "It's just… it's you."

"Are you saying I'm weird?"

"You're the weirdest," Edea said, and when she smiled at him, his heart lifted. She wasn't ashamed, not if she could smile at him like that, shy but open. "You are really the weirdest."

"What does that make you?" he asked, grinning back at her. He leaned over, and found to his relief that she didn't lean back, not entirely, though she did shift a little bit to face him. "If I'm the weirdest, but we just - " he faltered on his words, flushing slightly - " - p-pleasured each other."

"I think," she started, and her eyelashes fluttered. He was close enough to her now that he could see the depths of her blue eyes. There were indescribable emotions in them, some he recognized and some he didn't. "I think that makes me Mrs. Weird."

It was Edea who closed the distance between them, pressing her lips against his roughly, almost mashing their noses in her quickness. Ringabel let his eyes fall shut, sighing as he kissed her back, tilting his head for a more natural angle. He was no novice at kissing, after all, and he quickly took control of the kiss, moving his lips gently and chastely against hers as she clung to him. His arms wound around her.

A part of him wanted to push it further, but another part wanted to take it slow and relish this newfound … thing… he had with her. Leaning back so that he could get some fresh air, his eyes opened at the same time that hers did. Her cheeks were flushed alluringly, her lips kiss swollen and slightly parted. Inviting.

Edea swallowed. "Okay, the kissing was probably the weirdest part." Her eyes flicked over to the side.

"You've… you've already sucked my - " he tried to point out to her, confused. Women were so confusing.

"I know!" she interrupted him, her cheeks flaring with color. "That's why it's weird!" She placed her hands on his chest. Not pushing him away, but not allowing him closer.

Heat sparked in his face and for the briefest of moments he felt dizzy. Was there any going back from the events that had happened earlier? "Edea," he started, but she cut him off with her trembling fingers on his lips, his cheeks. He leaned into her cool hands.

"I told you," she said shakily. "I keep thinking about it. It's just… weird."

"You started it," he pointed out like a child, his bottom lip poking out. "Both the kiss and the thing earlier." There, he'd said it, and felt better for it. Not that he didn't mind doing these things with her, but in his opinion it was a little unfair she was instigating it all and then calling it - and him - weird.

"I did," she admitted. "And I always finish what I started, don't I?"

Before he could ask her what _that_ meant, she kissed him again, her lips more gentle against his own this time. He responded eagerly despite the caution he felt, especially when he felt the wetness of her tongue probing his. Ah. His Angel was being bold, was she? His lips parted to grant her entrance, his own tongue meeting hers halfway, caressing it in greeting.

One of them moaned, he wasn't sure which, and they parted for a quick gasp of air before leaning back. Her lips were somewhat chapped, but warm, and molded easily to his own as he kissed her thoroughly, his lips curving as he realized she'd been lying. The only thing he could taste on her was their food. Her mouth was warm and hot, almost as hot as her core had been, and her scent filled his senses once more. It was softer, not as sharp, but just as enticing.

Edea was still new at this, and so she broke the kiss once more, her chest heaving for air. He kissed the corner of her parted lips, then her chin, then the underside of her jaw. "Mmn," she moaned, tilting her head back. "Ringabel…"

Instead of answering, his lips found her pulse point, thundering under her pale skin, and he sucked at carefully, drawing it out with his teeth. The way she cried out into his ear only fueled him, as did the way that she clung to him, her hands sliding around to his back, nails dragging against his skin. He bit.

Edea cried out, and squirmed, and it made it hard for him to continue to suck her neck. He stopped when she pushed at his shoulders frantically, worried he'd frightened her. "What is it?" he asked, looking up at her face. She was flushed and sweaty. Beautiful.

"Should we move to the bed?" she asked, averting her gaze from his.

Heat was low his stomach at the implication. Instead of replying, he kissed her again.

She shivered.

"Cold?" he asked..

"A little," Edea admitted, wrapping her arms over her chest. When the blankets was draped over her shoulders, she leaned against him. Ringabel kissed the top of her head. He felt a little dizzy at how things were going, but… Edea was soft and growing warm, and he enjoyed the feeling of her in his arms. Even if things stopped there, he would be content. He'd been able to kiss her, and a little more, and she seemed like she would let him continue to hold her, as long as he asked.

For a few long moments, the two of them sat there, listening to the sound of the fire crackling nearby and to each other's breathing. Then, Edea leaned back to look at his face.

"I'm still cold," she whispered. Her eyes had darkened with lust, and now they met his for a brief moment before she glanced away.

"Oh," he replied. "We - ah, we could move back to the bed. There's more blankets there, and…" she was shaking her head as he trailed off.

"It'll be fine here, but please, Ringabel… don't make me say it," she flushed, looking down at him.

"What if I want to hear it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's weird," she said, and laughed. He laughed with her, leaning up to kiss her lips. "But I suppose we're both weird," she continued, and her eyes slipped shut. He took the opportunity to kiss them each in turn, then her nose, and then her slightly-part lips, where she breathed out a sigh of anticipation against his own.

He smiled against her lips and held her close. Her hands wandered down his chest while his own crept down her soft form, caressing all of her curves in awe of the feeling of the woman on his lap. As their passion built, Ringabel pressed into her easily, the two of them gasping at the feeling of being joined. It had been a long time coming, and very welcome, and their cries filled the air as they coupled, driven by a need to be warm inside and out.

When it was done, the air was still. Then he closed his eyes and slept.

When he opened them next, Edea was curled up against him, her head nestled against his shoulder. She was breathing steadily, deeply - sleeping. His arms were loose around her, but he tightened them now, squeezing her gently so as to not wake her. The blanket was wrapped around them, keeping them warm despite the fact that the fire had gone down while they slept.

His feet, on the floor, were cold.

Ringabel ran his hands down Edea's back, even as he shifted and crossed his legs so that he could tuck them into the little blanket nest they had. He couldn't believe what had transpired, despite the very real evidence on his lap. Her skin was so warm… he continued to caress her back and thighs as he waited for her to wake, trying not to vibrate with anxiety.

He would be lying if he tried to claim that he had never fantasized about Edea in this way, because he certainly had, allowing thoughts of his beloved to fill his mind on particularly lonely nights when he was pent up, but none of those fantasies could have prepared him for the reality of what they'd just done. It was better than anything his paltry imagination could have come up with.

He shivered, and felt Edea's eyelashes move.

"Mmm," Edea said, nuzzling further into him. He smiled, pressing his cheek to her head. The urge to cuddle her was suddenly overwhelming; she was just too cute. "Ringabel?"

"I'm here," he replied, taking a deep breath. He felt giddy, but how would she feel? Would she regret it…? It had been sudden, after all, he could admit that. If it was just because of the tension that had built up between them.

Edea let out another noise, then leaned back from him, pushing herself up with a hand on his chest. Ringabel kept his own hands on her waist, holding her so that she didn't tumble back onto the floor or the fire.

She rubbed at her eyes with the other hand as she looked them over. Her cheeks were still flushed an attractive red, her hair sticking to her neck and face. She looked a mess. She looked lovely.

"How do you feel?" he asked, caressing her hip with a thumb.

"Sore," Edea admitted, and she shifted slightly. "Really sore."

He grimaced, wondering if he had been a little rough with her. He hadn't imagined their first time would be on a couch, after all. He'd wanted it to be romantic, with rose petals and candles, and love _-making_.

"I'm sorry," he replied, lifting his other hand to try and clear some of her hair from her face. "I didn't mean -"

"It's… okay," she said, shaking her head. "I know you'd never hurt me. And it doesn't hurt. It's just… sore, Ringabel. Like the type of sore you get when you have a really, really good workout."

"Which we did," he reminded her.

Her cheeks bloomed with color. "We did."

They both went silent, and Ringabel wasn't sure how to proceed. Edea saved him by attempting to slide off his lap. The blanket fell from her shoulders to the floor. "I need to… use the restroom," she said, steadying herself with her hands against his chest. He touched her arms. "And I'm hungry."

How long had they been sleeping? He looked past Edea to the fire, then to the windows. "We'll

She crossed her hands over her chest. "Stop staring," she told him, her cheeks a deep red. "

"You're beautiful," he blurted out.

"I'm a mess," she replied, but she let out a nervous laugh all the same. "Really, I need to clean up. _Then_ we'll eat."

Ringabel was just as much a mess. His own thighs were slick and sticky, and his hair was a lost cause. "I'll put the pot on to heat," he offered as he attempted to stand. His legs protested the action, also sore from his earlier activity. She steadied him with a hand as he staggered.

He stared down at her, into blue eyes that he wasn't sure he could ever see the same again. They were as light as ever.

He leaned down at the same time she tilted her face up, and their lips met, molding to one another easily. Naturally. Edea hummed against his mouth as he kissed, chaste but loving. He sighed.

"Dinner," she reminded him.

"Is it time for dinner?" he asked, stooping down to pick up his pants and pull them on. Edea scooped up her clothing as well, though she merely held them in her arms.

"I don't know," she said, glancing at the window. They couldn't see the exact position of the sun with the snow so high. "I think it's probably in the afternoon, but…"

Time had escaped them, in this little cabin. Everything outside of it no longer mattered. He smiled at her.

"We'll eat a big dinner and go to bed, yes?"

Edea shifted slightly, her thighs pressing together. "Yeah… let's do that."

Ringabel tried not to grin and ruin the mood. "Go get clean," he managed to suggest with a relatively neutral face. "I'll clean up when I'm done in the kitchen."

Edea vanished into the restroom and he went into the kitchen, washing his hands before turning the heat back on the pot. He added a bit more water, to help fill out the meal, and watched the water swirl as he stirred it, his thoughts swirling around as well.

It was just… how could they ever go back to what they'd had before now? He wasn't the type of man to have one-night stands, and Edea wasn't that type of woman, either. Something was different between them now, something he couldn't quite name, try as he might to pin it down.

As absorbed in his thoughts as he was, he didn't notice Edea coming back into the room until she was right beside him and leaning over the pot. "It smells good," she said.

He jumped. "When did you come back?" he asked.

Edea laughed at him, but not unkindly. "I've been back, Ringabel. I just wiped down a little bit. Why don't you do that too. You smell." She wrinkled her nose.

"Thanks," he said, pouting at her. That wasn't very romantic. "Maybe we should take another bath? Together?"

"The tub won't fit us both," she reminded him. "But good try."

Ringabel stuck his tongue at her. She pushed at his shoulder. "Go!"

When he left, it was Edea's turn to stir their meal. She looked down into the cloudy water, then reached over to the packet of spices she'd left on the counter, deciding to sprinkle more in.

The past few days had blurred together, seeming endless, and with the new - interesting - development in their relationship, it had been momentarily tempting to entertain the thought of living out her days with him. Then she'd reminded herself that she was planning on doing that already, in one way or another, and if it had to be here, she'd eventually murder him out of frustration.

Edea bit her lip as she shifted. She felt sore now, but maybe if Ringabel was a little more gentle the next time…

By now she was relatively sure there would be a next time. She couldn't ignore all the feelings that had come out between them, and they were alone. Would be alone for a while yet.

Ringabel returned, his hair wet from a fresh scrub down.

"It's almost ready," she told him. "Still getting warmed up."

"I can wait," he replied, joining her in the kitchen. His arms wrapped around her, and he leaned in, pulling her to his chest. She closed her eyes, relishing the warmth of his skin. Being held like this was nice.

"Go make yourself useful," she murmured after a moment, leaning her head back against him. "Wash the dishes."

Ringabel whined. "Must I, dear?"

"Yes. We're almost out of clean ones, and I'm not eating out of a dirty bowl." Well, she probably would if she had to, but she wouldn't like it.

Ringabel grumbled but did as he was told, while she stayed at the stove. A smile curved the corner of her lips as she watched him gather up the bowls and spoons and carry them to the sink. The washing water would be cold, but it would suffice. And lucky her, while Ringabel was cleaning dishes with frigid soapy water, she got to stay in front of the warm stove.

Once the stew was nicely heated again, and the bowls were clean, they ate quickly and with little chatter, devouring their generous servings. They'd been more active in the past few hours than they had in the past few days, and it was noticeable in how hungry they felt.

Ringabel even went for seconds, eager to both fill his stomach and gain some strength for the rest of the day… evening, he noted, as the light turned an orangeish hue that indicated sunset wasn't too far off.

"We spent most of the day asleep," he said, amusement tinging his voice.

Edea followed his gaze to the window. " _You_ spent most of the day asleep. I was awake for a few hours listening to you snore."

He flushed. "I was tired! _Someone_ kept me awake all night by thinking that I was some sort of dessert!"

"Ice cream. I dreamt that you were ice cream."

"Ice cream," he clarified. "And then I was so fearful you would continue to consume me that I had so stay awake for my own safety. How could I possibly sleep in that situation?"

Edea shrugged. "You were happy to let me consume you later."

Ringabel was very glad that he wasn't eating at the moment, because he was certain he would have wasted the food and spit it up all over her. "Edea!" he gasped, mortified. Where had she learned these things? His innocent angel… was not as innocent as he had assumed. He knew that well now.

The blush on her cheeks betrayed her giggles. "Sorry, Ringabel," she laughed. "Your face is so red. Maybe we've been sleeping most of the day, but the rest of it… the rest of it has been memorable, to say the least."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, unsure of how to really proceed.

Edea went quiet, looking out one of the windows behind him. She stirred her food slowly. "What is there to talk about?" she finally replied. "It's done. We did it. We're… we'll figure out what we are later when we're out of here. When we have some more space."

"I still owe you a date," he murmured.

She smiled at him, causing his heart to do a little flip. "We're doing things out of order, aren't we? It's not that I don't… like… this. I just want to be able to get out of here before we have a talk."

It did make sense, he thought. The sex had, ultimately, been result of the tension between them snapping. It was a way to keep warm, and to feel good. They were talking about it now, but it sounded like Edea need some true space. In a way, he wanted some space as well. Space he wasn't going to be able to get here.

"Shall we go to bed, then?" he suggested. He was certain that bed meant they would end up fooling around a bit more, and whatever they couldn't say in words they could say in actions. He'd liked being so close to her and he wanted more of it. Whatever that meant for their relationship, they would just have to find out later.

Edea nodded, scraping the sides of the bowl she held. "Yeah. It'll be warm when we're in bed." She bit her lip and looked up him. He felt his cheeks burn.

"I'll keep you warm," he promised.

Keeping her warm meant climbing on top of her once they were back in the big, fluffy bed, and nuzzling against her shoulder as she laughed. It meant running his hands down her bare side to tickle her, and getting tickled in return when she rolled over onto her back so that her hands could be free. It meant pulling the blankets over them and tangling his legs against hers as he memorized the softness of her skin and each freckle on her chest.

"You're a little heavy," Edea complained softly, her hands running up and down his shoulders and arms.

"Oh, sorry," he replied, shifting slightly so that he wasn't lying as thoroughly on her. She cupped his face, rubbing her thumb across his stubble, and he closed his eyes, smiling softly.

He wanted to say so many things, but wasn't sure how to voice any of them in a way that wouldn't get him pushed away. So instead, he leaned down to kiss her, breathing out against her lips. She kissed him eagerly in return, opening her lips easily to his questing tongue.

Again they joined, gentle and quick, much too quick for Ringabel's liking. The day's events and the overall lack of sleep were getting to him, and all too soon he found himself gasping with release, arching over her.

"I'm sorry," he said, flushing. She shook her head at him, and beckoned him down, where she could cradle him against her shoulder. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of his beloved's breathing. They were quiet for a few moments.

I am sorry," he said again, and he could hear her start to protest. "Because I would have liked to make this a bit more romantic for you. It's only what you deserve, after all."

"Romantic how?" she asked, sounding curious, if not somewhat exasperated.

Ringabel cleared his throat and thought back to his multiple fantasies about the subject, trying not to yawn. "Well, the fireplace is romantic, but there could have been a fur rug involved. And candles, candles are always good. After we roll around some on the rug, we would drink champagne… oh wait, you're underage. So perhaps hot chocolate instead?"

"Hot chocolate sounds nice," Edea said, and she wiggled against him. He sighed as she tucked her head against his neck. "I wish we had some here, with marshmallows and whipped cream."

Even he could appreciate hot chocolate now and then, especially since coffee wasn't a very romantic or cuddly drink, and he privately agreed that it sounded delicious. Instead of agreeing with her verbally, he kissed the top of her head.

"And then I would kiss you," he continued after a moment of silence. "And pleasure you all night as you cry out my name."

Edea was wrinkling her nose. "Must you put things that way? Please talk like a normal person."

Ringabel pouted, but kissed her temple. "I am a normal person, but if I'm not, what does that make you?"

Hadn't he said something similar earlier? Edea seemed to recall the same, and he could see the flush on her cheeks even in the dim light.

"Stop talking," she told him, and kissed his jaw.

"If I'm not talking, then what shall I do instead?" he asked. Now that he'd had a few minutes, he wasn't feeling as tired. Still, it would be some time before he could recover and continue with her… except now she was grinning, looking up at the ceiling as she thought, grinning as she bit her lip.

"I'm sure we'll find some use for your mouth that isn't speaking, right?" she asked him, and when their eyes met his stomach and heart both did a somersault. The look that he saw, reflected in the dim light of the dying fire and obscured starlight, could have heated all the snow surrounding the cabin.

"I'm all yours," he replied, his voice low, belying the giddiness he felt still. "I'll let you do the talking for the rest of the night."

And he did. Though, some of what came out of her mouth weren't entirely words, coaxed out of her chest by his tongue and lips, his fingers and palm, and his love.

When they both finally allowed sleep to claim them for one more night, it was to the sound of silence. While they had kept each other warm, the fire had died hours ago and the snow outside muffled the world.

* * *

Well, as one can probably see, there was a bit more to this than what actually ended up in the final cut for , to comply with the policies and keep the rating overall low. If you're interested in seeing the full version of the fanfic, you can find it on my fanfiction blog on Tumblr, or you can check out Archive of Our Own.


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